Smilin' Pete Rides Again

Ketchum, ID-- Beloved area simpleton, Peter 'Smilin Pete' Feinberg, suffered deep tissue puncture wounds to the bridge of his nose after an encounter with an area rodent. The incident reportedly occurred Sunday afternoon while Feinberg was being walked by his Nana on Trail Creek Rd.

" I like to walk Pete out there because I can let him off his leash to run and dig." said his Nana. "When I saw him clawing in one spot for too long, I knew something was wrong. I started hitting his shock collar but the battery must've been weak because he wouldn't respond." Nana continued, "All of a sudden, Pete began shrieking and jumped back from the hole with a ground squirrel attached to his face. He ran in circles, wildly flailing his arms, before diving head first through the ice of a nearby beaver pond."

"The native Idaho ground squirrel (Urocitellus brunneus) was

likely disturbed during hibernation and was merely defending itself." claimed Ranger Kurt Nelson. "Due to the lack of snowpack, many of our local high desert rodents are facing early season threats from burrowing predators like foxes, coyotes, badgers and (apparently) Mr. Feinberg."

This marks Feinberg's second run in with local wildlife in as many months after recently chasing down and hugging a coyote near River Run which mangled his hand before escaping. Luckily, Pete was able to walk away from this incident with only 6 stitches and a tetanus booster. The squirrel, however, didn't fare as well. After being rushed to the Sun Valley Animal Center and receiving multiple surgeries/acupuncture treatments, it was pronounced dead early this morning.

***See The Marten Stuffer report about Smilin' Pete's coyote incident here: http://www.martenstuffer.com/#!Coyote-Mauls-Area-Simpleton/c137b/54ce5bff0cf2f9ae3ffab0e3