Vexed in Park Slope: When Animals Attack! Edition

NYPL Image Archive

Remember the Bronx Zoo cobra escape of early 2011? Of course you do. That story got more local news air time than 37% of all the murders in 2011 combined. Ok, I totally made that up. But I'm sure it's not far from truth. Let's face it, New Yorkers are more afraid of nature than we are of the myriad of frightening things that are just part and parcel of Big City living. So it should be no surprise that denizens of Park Slope have long been terrorized by critters run amok. For example, in November of 1921 a . . .

17! People! Bit! The Times reports that an otherwise quiet Sunday night in Park Slope was interrupted by a crazed dog who ran through Flatbush, Park Slope and Bath Beach (that's a lot of running!) biting people all along the route. The fates of those bitten by the rabid mutt are lost to history, but the dog's is known: he was taken down by a single bullet at the intersection of Smith and Carroll Streets late that night. I guess he was all bitten out by the time he made his way into Carroll Gardens.

Thirty years later, the good people of our neighborhood found themselves once again cowering at the furry of a tireless beast:

According to the Times of June 25th, 1951, "Startled motorists jolted to a stop as the animal wove recklessly in and out of traffic along Prospect Park West. Strollers scattered pell-mell and mothers shooed children behind trees." Yeah. Take that, strollers. 

Ok, dogs and horses are one thing -- but lions? On November 18th, 1960 a police officer stopped a car for a routine check at Union and 7th Avenue. Upon looking in the back of the car, the patrolman saw three men and one lion [Editor's Note: I see a great opportunity for Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson and Tom Sellick to reunite for this film]. The lion was "Cleo" and one of the men was Anthony Ortolano - a 26 year old longshoreman who resided -- with Cleo -- at 581 Carroll Street. At this point, the Times reports, the officer took Cleo and Anthony to the Bergen Street police station,  where the lion made friends with all the officers and Anthony got slapped with a summons:

 

 Lions, wild horses and rabid dogs are all scary, sure -- but don't worry, I saved the most terrifying for last:

Yep.

In June of 1950, Officers Morris Samowitz and Norman Katz responded to a call for help at 184 8th Ave --and then spent the next 90 minutes in hot pursuit of a squirrel. The epic chase was confined to a two room apartment and the little guy apparently had the advantage of a "slippery freshly waxed floor." Eventually New York's finest caught the bushy tailed marauder in a sheet and released him outside - at which point he made a dash for Prospect Park. Who knows, we may be living side by side with his descendants to this very day. Yikes!