Episode Summary
Executive Summary: This episode follows the Central Park Squirrel Census, a massive volunteer-driven project to count eastern gray squirrels and reveal what their presence says about cities, ecology, and human attitudes toward urban wildlife. It traces how squirrels were intentionally introduced to 19th-century cities, became symbols of a “more-than-human community,” later caused real infrastructure problems, and are now being rethought under a more ecological view that favors natural balance over feeding and coddling.
Main Topics: The Central Park Squirrel Census (Priority: 5/5): A large-scale biological census aimed at counting every squirrel in Central Park using hectare-by-hectare fieldwork, volunteer surveyors, and a population formula to estimate total abundance. How squirrels became urban animals (Priority: 5/5): Eastern gray squirrels were not naturally city-dwelling; they were intentionally introduced into 19th-century urban parks as symbols of wilderness and civic charm. From charity to ecology (Priority: 5/5): The episode contrasts an older 'more-than-human community' model, where people fed and protected animals, with a modern ecological approach emphasizing balanced ecosystems and less human intervention. Squirrels as infrastructure threats (Priority: 4/5): Squirrels are presented not just as cute urban fauna but as a major cause of power outages and even a historical stock exchange disruption, showing their outsized impact on human systems. Urban parks as squirrel habitat (Priority: 4/5): The rise of large, tree-filled parks designed by Olmsted and Vaux created the conditions that allowed squirrel populations to explode in cities like New York. Public conflict over feeding wildlife (Priority: 4/5): A New York City Parks hearing about banning wildlife feeding reveals tension between emotional attachment to animals and ecological management concerns. Why counting matters (Priority: 4/5): The census is framed as more than a novelty: it reflects a desire to understand non-human neighbors and recognize cities as multi-species environments.
Key Arguments: Squirrels are so common in cities that people assume they have always been there, but they were deliberately introduced into urban landscapes. Early city squirrel introductions often failed because 19th-century cities lacked enough tree cover and natural food sources. The creation of large, park-like green spaces with oak trees and naturalistic design enabled squirrel populations to thrive. Historical urban attitudes treated some wild animals as beneficiaries of human charity, while predators were seen as bad and were often removed. Modern ecology replaced this view with one that values predator-prey balance and reduced human interference. Squirrels can significantly affect human infrastructure, especially electrical systems, and are responsible for a meaningful share of power outages. The squirrel census satisfies a human need to know and acknowledge the non-human beings sharing city space. Feeding wildlife may feel like connection, but it can also harm animals by creating dependence and unhealthy population dynamics.
Data Points: Volunteers in census: 300+ - People recruited to count squirrels across Central Park hectares Survey area: 700 hectares - Central Park acreage divided into survey plots Plot size: 100 meter by 100 meter - The hectare grid used for counting Paper sheets: 3,000+ - Documentation generated by the census Initial Philadelphia introduction: 3 squirrels - Early city experiment with urban squirrel introduction First Central Park reintroduction: 1877 - Second trial run of squirrels in Central Park Possible Central Park squirrel total: High hundreds to over 5,000 - Historical guesses after counting became impractical Power outages in U.S. linked to squirrels: 1 out of every 5 - Estimate cited for squirrel-related grid problems NASDAQ outage duration: 82 minutes - 1987 incident caused by a squirrel-chewed power line NASDAQ trades lost: 20 million trades - Estimated impact of the 1987 outage People affected by Canadian outage: 55,000 - Large squirrel-caused outage in Canada in April 2009 Austin outages in 2015: 400+ - Squirrel-related outages in a single city over one year NYSE global market share: 85% - Joseph Sanjamino describing NYSE dominance in the 1980s Central Park census announcement timing: March 2019 - Data gathering completed and abundance number planned for June release
Pivotal Quotes: "I want to know how many squirrels are in Central Park." — Jamie Allen: Explaining the purpose of the squirrel census "The parks are not nature, they're an artificial situation. We are part of their environment. You can't change that." — Public comment at NYC Parks hearing: Argument against banning wildlife feeding "You know, one of the appeals of a squirrel census is just the same appeal that has existed since the 1850s, which is it's clear to people that the world around them is not only inhabited by humans." — Etienne Benson: Why people care about counting squirrels
Implications: Urban wildlife is not incidental; it is shaped by human design, policy, and emotion. The episode suggests future city stewardship will hinge on balancing ecological realism with the public’s desire to connect with non-human neighbors.