Nervy squirrels were big winners in an Easter Sunday showdown A simple backyard Easter egg hunt Sunday turned into a bit of a contest between some children and a bunch of nervy chocolate-loving squirrels. "It was totally unbelievable," Ann Wiater said as she described the zany scene that had taken place at her house in Rochester after her adult nephew wandered around her yard, hiding about 60 colored plastic eggs, each containing a coin and a foil-wrapped Hershey Kiss. A few eggs designated grand prize winners contained notes that could be redeemed for paper money, along with the candies.

When it was time for the children to hunt down those eggs, Ann and other adult relatives were astonished to see what had been going on during the previous hour or so: A bunch of squirrels had discovered the eggs and were busily opening them to retrieve the candy. "They started coming out of nowhere," Ann said. "They had these pink and blue and yellow plastic eggs in their paws. We saw one that used its hind leg to open the egg it was holding in its front paws. I don't know how a Hershey Kiss could smell so good through plastic. We found money scattered around, and two of the grand prize winners were missing. We haven't found them at all." She estimated that as many as ten squirrels at once were in her yard snatching the goodies that had been intended for the grandchildren of her brother. "It was such chaos," Ann said. "Who wants to eat candy from an egg that's got teeth marks all over it?"

The squirrels paid virtually no attention to the humans who were gathered in the yard, she said: "I guess they're city squirrels, so they aren't afraid of people."

Fortunately, there was plenty of other candy in the children's Easter baskets, which had been kept inside the house out of reach of those bushy-tailed thieves.

thanx to skwerlhugger greysquirrel for sending us this horrific true tale