{"id":1471,"date":"2018-12-23T07:00:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1471"},"modified":"2018-12-23T09:02:37","modified_gmt":"2018-12-23T14:02:37","slug":"a-reader-asks-why-are-the-squirrels-in-boston-common-so-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/23\/a-reader-asks-why-are-the-squirrels-in-boston-common-so-fat\/","title":{"rendered":"A reader asks: “Why are the squirrels in Boston Common so fat?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

They are exceedingly<\/strong><\/em> well fed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston hosts something around 20 million visitors each year. About 3 million of them walk the Freedom Trail, which starts at Boston Common. There also are many public events in the Common \u2014 concerts, fireworks, festivals, political gatherings, celebrations, etc. \u2014 throughout the year, which attract both visitors and residents. And Boston’s business commercial district is just a block away from the Common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus: There are a ton of places for food on and around the Common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So just imagine: Millions and millions of people consuming millions of snacks and meals on and around the Common, spilling millions of crumbs and morsels, and deliberately feeding millions more to the birds and mammals there\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s amazing the squirrels can even walk. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/

Photo: Airwolfhound\/Flickr. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: <\/strong><\/em>https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1471<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They are exceedingly well fed. Boston hosts something around 20 million visitors each year. About 3 million of them walk the Freedom Trail, which starts at Boston Common. There also are many public events in the Common \u2014 concerts, fireworks, festivals, political gatherings, celebrations, etc. \u2014 throughout the year, which attract both visitors and residents….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-around-boston"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-nJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1290,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/09\/a-reader-asks-what-should-can-i-do-during-a-4-hour-layover-in-boston\/","url_meta":{"origin":1471,"position":0},"title":"A reader* asks: “What should\/can I do during a 4 hour layover in Boston?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-09","format":false,"excerpt":"A time-crunched visitor asks what to see in a quick tour of Boston.","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1167,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/25\/a-reader-asks-what-is-the-best-way-to-get-around-boston\/","url_meta":{"origin":1471,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: What is the best way to get around Boston?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-25","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: What is the best way to get around Boston? (via Quora) A: Here's my list, in ascending order, best to worst; I adjust as needed to account for weather issues, distance being travelled, schedule pressures, whether or not I need to carry bulky items, etc.: Walk Bike T (subway\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":945,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/04\/a-reader-asks-why-does-boston-have-so-many-universities-compared-to-other-cities\/","url_meta":{"origin":1471,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: Why does Boston have so many universities compared to other cities?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-04","format":false,"excerpt":"A reader asks: \"Why does Boston have so many universities compared to other cities?\" Boston benefits from almost 400 years of continual investment in education. For example, Harvard University was founded in 1636, just six years after Boston itself. That wasn\u2019t an accident: From its founding, up to the American\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":374,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/14\/a-reader-asks-who-is-responsible-for-the-boston-gas-blasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1471,"position":3},"title":"Around Boston: Who is responsible for the Boston gas blasts?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-14","format":false,"excerpt":"Q. Who is responsible for the Boston gas blasts? (Mikhail Tuzikov, via Quora) A. As of early today, 2018-09-14, the mostly likely explanation is human error. Some old gas pipes were being replaced in that area, and workers may have incorrectly connected a medium-pressure distribution line (60psi\/4.1bar) to a low-pressure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1405,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/22\/a-reader-asks-do-people-drive-a-lot-worse-in-the-rain-in-boston-ma\/","url_meta":{"origin":1471,"position":4},"title":"A reader* asks: “Do people drive a lot worse in the rain in Boston, MA?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-22","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, of course. Accident rates in Boston go up in the rain \u2014 just as they do in every other location on the planet. I'm not sure what else you\u2019d expect when roads get slippery and visibility goes down! I'm guessing that what you're really getting at is the poor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":451,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/29\/a-boston-reader-asks-where-in-boston-can-you-meditate-away-from-car-noise-but-not-have-to-pay-for-this-quiet-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":1471,"position":5},"title":"A reader asks: Where in Boston can you meditate away from car noise but not have to pay for this quiet space?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-29","format":false,"excerpt":"Q. Where in Boston can you meditate away from car noise but not have to pay for this quiet space? (via Quora) A: Try the Boston Museum of Fine Arts\u2019 free Japanese Garden, \"Tenshin-en.\" Tenshin-en, or the \u201cGarden of the Heart of Heaven,\u201d is a contemplative Japanese garden designed so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com\/styles\/banner_grid-6_retina\/s3\/SC24483_4x3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com\/styles\/banner_grid-6_retina\/s3\/SC24483_4x3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com\/styles\/banner_grid-6_retina\/s3\/SC24483_4x3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com\/styles\/banner_grid-6_retina\/s3\/SC24483_4x3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com\/styles\/banner_grid-6_retina\/s3\/SC24483_4x3.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1503,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions\/1503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}