MELBOURNE, Fla. – Melbourne police warned a resident not to stalk or hunt nuisance squirrels after he killed at least one of the scurrying creatures before taking a request to eliminate another from a neighbor.
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Police received calls about 10 a.m. Sunday concerning a man with a BB gun walking in the area of St. Marks Avenue, just south of Parkway Drive. The man told police he believed the squirrels were a growing nuisance in the area, officers said.
"It's not a call that we usually deal with. He had a problem with squirrels in his yard, and he had exterminated one, and his neighbor also had a problem with one," Melbourne police spokesman Pete Mercaldo said. "The neighbors were complaining about seeing him with a BB gun."
It was not immediately known how many squirrels the man -- identified by police as the president of the neighborhood association for the area -- had killed.
"We gave him a warning and told him that next time, use a professional service," Mercaldo said. "He may have been under the impression that if the squirrels were a nuisance on your property that you could take care of it. There are laws that govern these things, and he agreed with that."
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Police said officers did not believe there was any malice on the man's part.
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