Episode Summary
Executive Summary: This episode follows the Central Park Squirrel Census, explaining why a huge volunteer effort was launched to count squirrels and how Eastern gray squirrels became a defining urban species. It traces their deliberate introduction to 19th-century cities, their boom in park ecosystems, and the modern debate over feeding wildlife and managing urban nature.
Main Topics: The Central Park Squirrel Census (Priority: 5/5): A massive volunteer-led project organized to count every Eastern gray squirrel in Central Park, using hectare-by-hectare surveys and a population formula to estimate total abundance. How squirrels came to cities (Priority: 5/5): Eastern gray squirrels were not naturally urban; they were intentionally introduced into East Coast cities in the mid-1800s as symbols of wilderness and civic improvement. Urban park design enabled squirrel population growth (Priority: 4/5): The shift from small, hard-edged city squares to large, landscaped parks with oak trees, lakes, and brush created ideal squirrel habitat and fueled population expansion. The 'more than human community' idea (Priority: 4/5): Historically, cities treated some animals as fellow residents deserving charity and protection; feeding squirrels was seen as morally proper and part of civilized urban life. Squirrels as infrastructure threats and invasive species (Priority: 4/5): Modern consequences include power outages from squirrel interactions with utilities and ecological harm abroad, especially the displacement of native red squirrels in Britain. From feeding to ecological management (Priority: 5/5): Wildlife policy has shifted toward an ecological model that discourages feeding and emphasizes predator-prey balance, leading to debates over whether cities should intervene in animal life.
Key Arguments: Counting common animals reveals overlooked ecological knowledge; the absence of a squirrel census shows how little we formally track everyday urban wildlife. Eastern gray squirrels are urban only because humans intentionally introduced and supported them; their presence is a human-made outcome. Squirrel populations surged when cities created large park landscapes with food-rich trees and shelter, proving environment design matters. What once seemed like responsible kindness—feeding and protecting squirrels—can become ecologically harmful when it increases dependence and overpopulation. The return of predators like hawks and coyotes reflects a newer ecological view that values natural balance over human-managed 'friendly' wildlife communities. Even when people disagree about feeding rules, the desire to acknowledge non-human city residents remains powerful and culturally meaningful.
Data Points: Volunteers in the squirrel census: 300+ - People assigned to count squirrels across Central Park hectares Survey area: 700 hectares - Central Park land area covered by the census Plot size: 100 meter by 100 meter - Size of each census hectare/plot used for counting Paper records: 3,000+ sheets - Documentation generated during the census Central Park squirrel count (2018 release): 2,373 squirrels - Final squirrel abundance number reported after the census Additional squirrels counted in 2020: 433 squirrels - Flash count in 24 other New York City parks Early Philadelphia introduction: 3 squirrels - Initial trial introduction of squirrels in Philadelphia in 1847 NYSE floor outage estimate: 20 million trades lost - Impact of NASDAQ outage caused by a squirrel-chewed power line in 1987 NASDAQ outage duration: 82 minutes - Time NASDAQ was offline on December 9, 1987 U.S. power outages linked to squirrels: 1 in 5 - Estimated share of U.S. outages attributed to squirrels Austin outages in 2015: 400+ - Separate squirrel-related outages in Austin, Texas Canada outage impact: 55,000 people - Major squirrel-caused outage in April 2009 NYSE market share in the 1980s: 85% of global stock market - Context for the significance of the 1987 NASDAQ outage
Pivotal Quotes: "I want to know how many squirrels are in Central Park." — Jamie Allen: Explaining the purpose of the large volunteer census "The squirrels that we all take for granted... are only there because we put them there." — Etienne Benson: On the human-introduced history of urban squirrels "To NASDAQ, that squirrel, that squirrel was Godzilla. To us on the New York Stock Exchange, that little squirrel was Superman." — Joseph Sangiomino: Describing the 1987 squirrel-caused NASDAQ power failure
Implications: Urban wildlife is shaped by human design, policy, and values. Counting and managing animals like squirrels helps cities balance biodiversity, infrastructure, and the public's desire for connection with nature.