Squirrel Faces Death at Disney World Volcano
If Harrison Ford ever decides to hand over Indiana Jones’ hat and whip, I think his only worthy heir showed his stuff at Disney World this month. At the Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs, a shopping mall and entertainment complex in the Walt Disney World Resort, there’s a volcano attraction that simulates a volcanic lava eruption every half hour; this effect is accomplished with smoke, sounds, lighting, and, most importantly, fire. On July 12, a squirrel found his way onto the volcano just as it was erupting, to the horror of diners who tried to get the tree-dweller to leave before he was burned to a crisp. A guest at the Rainforest Cafe captured the squirrel’s mini adventure on video, which shows him with a singed tail, indicating the fire got him at some point. Luckily, according to the person who filmed the video, the nimble-footed rodent escaped the volcano alive and well – albeit with a battle scar on his hindquarters that will hopefully heal quickly. The New York Post was the first to share the story via the video, which you can see below:
Thank God he made it. Not that I’d want any animal to die like that, but I happen to like squirrels a lot. We get a lot of them around here, so I grew up seeing them every day. (My grandmother used to call them all “Charlie;” I never did figure out why.) They never bother anyone, never hurt anyone (although I’ve never seen anyone try to hurt them, so I don’t know what their self-defense instincts are like – hopefully brutal, which is what someone who’d hurt an animal deserves), never even make any audible noise unless their feet are scraping up a tree as they climb. They’re nature’s perfect neighbor, quiet and respectful of your privacy unless you leave out some nuts for them. Seeing one in danger is troubling because you don’t know whether they understand where they are or how to get away, especially when it’s someplace man-made like Disney World. Luckily, this guy escaped, which must have relieved the guests who saw him face the mighty volcano – “mighty” for a pre-programmed theme park attraction, but the squirrel didn’t know that. And he ended up giving parkgoers a show to go with their dinner, certainly the equal of anything they’ll see from the Disney crew. Maybe being an entertainer is in his blood.
