Catch Me If You Can: Squirrel Outruns Dog in Central Park Chase

A furry resident of New York’s Central Park outwitted a dog on April 21 by running around the base of a tree before scaling its bark to safety.

The battle of wits between a squirrel and a Hungarian vizsla named Tucker was captured by the dog’s owner, Sara Laughlin. In the video, the dog and the squirrel can be seen staring at each other in a tense stand-off before the dog takes off in pursuit.

The three-year-old dog appeared to have the squirrel within his sights when the smaller animal finally climbed to safety.

Speaking to Storyful, Laughlin said, “Tucker loves to chase squirrels in Central Park, but this experience was definitely a first. Normally, they just run straight up the tree.”

She added, “He’ll just stare at them forever once they go up the tree like he’s trying to convince them to come back down. He did chase a deer once but, unfortunately, I did not get that on video.” Credit: Sara Laughlin via Storyful