‘Who Shot 11 Squirrels in My Yard?’ Asks Wicker Park Woman, Animal Lover
WICKER PARK — For the past four months, someone has been gunning down squirrels in Nancy Stark’s yard and the longtime Wicker Park resident wants to find out who’s doing it. On Monday, the death toll reached 11.
“I heard on the news, report people who are torturing animals, call the FBI. This is a sick person,” Stark said during a tour of her yard on Wednesday, where there were plenty of birds snacking on feeders — but no squirrels.
“They are smart animals; they learn. They have stopped coming,” Stark said.
The squirrel murders, usually one or two at a time, started in mid-October, but Stark (who discovers the killed squirrels after the fact) did not file a police report until Thursday, when the magnitude of the situation intensified. On Monday morning, she found three dead squirrels at the base of her pear tree.
“When I saw three at once, I started to feel unsafe,” Stark said.
Officer Jessica Rocco, a Chicago Police spokeswoman, confirmed that Stark filed a police report on Wednesday.
“The reports narrative states the victim discovered 11 squirrels dead. Surveillance video does not show the offender,” Rocco said.
Sgt. Adam Henkels, head of the Shakespeare District CAPS office, said officers are investigating and he’s encouraging neighbors to come forward if they saw anything suspicious.
“Not only is it animal abuse or cruelty, it’s also a hazard to other neighbors because not every time do you hit your target. It’s endangering the neighbors and if they see it happening, they should call 911,” Sgt. Henkels said.
In a video Stark posted on YouTube, it’s raining and difficult to see where a shooter could be standing and the video has no audio. Stark, who was working from home at the time of the incident around 10:40 a.m. Monday, said she did not hear any gunshots.
“This is so typical of the mindset, morality, and hatefulness of Chicago. I’m afraid for my safety,” Stark wrote in a comment on her video.
Stark suspects the shooter lives in an 11-unit condo building next to her home in the 2100 block of West Evergreen Avenue.
“The people in [the condo building] have complained to me repeatedly over the years about squirrels or birds in my yard,” Stark said.
On Monday, Stark placed the three dead and bloody squirrels, all with “an entrance wound and an exit wound,” she says, into a cardboard box, closed the box, and placed it in the entry of the condo building, with a note saying she believes someone in the building is responsible for the deaths.
The week prior, on February 15, after finding a single dead squirrel in her yard, Stark said she placed that squirrel carcass in the condo building’s vestibule, which had been left unopened. On Monday, the condo building’s inner vestibule door was locked, so Stark left the box by the mailboxes.
A lawyer representing the 11-unit condo association declined to comment on the situation.
Sgt. Henkels was not aware Stark brought the most recent 4 of 11 dead squirrels into the neighboring building.
“I would recommend you don’t move it and call the police and call animal control and ask for both agencies if you encounter [a dead animal killed from suspected violence],” Sgt. Henkels said.
Felipe Caro, who rents an apartment in Stark’s home, said he disposed of the squirrels in the alley after they were sent back to Stark’s property by an unknown person.
“It’s really sad [someone would kill the squirrels]. There is nice wildlife in the yard. It’s not just the squirrels, there is a fox and raccoons and I’ve seen a falcon. The only thing missing is a deer,” Caro said.
Stark and Caro were unable to find any bullets or pellets under the pear tree where the squirrels were found over the past four months.
Stark says trouble with her neighbors worsened this fall after someone did not consult her before cutting off the limbs of her pear tree, which had been hanging over a fence dividing the properties.
The pear tree was attracting birds who’d rest on the branches and then poop on the windshields and hoods of her neighbors’ cars. Stark says she had offered to buy covers for the cars.
“I’m really starting to feel like I have enemies. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for amost 40 years. I don’t make enemies. I am the quiet one no one knows is here,” she said.
When asked if she regrets having placed the dead squirrels in the entry of the neighboring building, Stark replied, “I did not get any response until I started putting the squirrels in the vestibule. I don’t regret it at all, and now, I don’t think there will be any more dead squirrels.”
