Two Unticketed Squirrels Cause Havoc, Cancel Airport Train
The fuzzy animals simply refused to disembark a train headed for Gatwick International Airport.
I've heard of many reasons for trains getting canceled or delayed. I'm a frequent Amtrak rider, after all. Somehow, electrical cords are constantly falling on the tracks. But I've never heard of a train being canceled because of two unruly and unrepentant squirrels. During a morning train ride on September 14, passengers heading to London-Gatwick International Airport were alarmed when two squirrels boarded the train acting "frightened and erratic."
The BBC reports that the squirrels hopped on the Great Western Railway between Reading and Gatwick. Once on the train, the squirrels were confined to the last car while passengers moved to other cars in an effort to avoid them.
The train did not continue after the squirrels were separated from the other passengers. Instead, after only successfully shooing one of the squirrels off the train, the other one was transported back to Reading, where it was eventually removed from the car.
"We can confirm that the 0854 Reading to Gatwick was terminated at Redhill after a couple of squirrels boarded the train at Gomshall without tickets, breaching railway 'byeclaws,'" a pun-loving spokesperson for the Railway told BBC. "We attempted to remove them at Redhill, but one refused to leave and was returned to Reading to bring an end to this nutty tail."
It is charming that these squirrels were handled with such gentle gloves—even though I imagine anyone on the train headed to the airport was less amused by the service interruption. At least 2.5 million gray squirrels reportedly live in the UK, meaning they aren't rare or endangered, and this could happen again.
It's both heartwarming and shocking to see a major transit system disrupted by two little rodents who were then treated so tenderly. They weren't chased off the train? Or put in cages? Or gassed unconscious? Or shot? And they just got to ride around for free? Even people don't get to do that in the US.
My biggest question now is, were the squirrels trying to catch a flight? And if so, where to?