Posted 11:26 pm Sunday, July 25, 2010
Courthouse Critter Became County Legend
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
He was a panhandler on the grounds of the Smith County courthouse for 15 years, from 1948 to 1963.
Staff Writer
He was a panhandler on the grounds of the Smith County courthouse for 15 years, from 1948 to 1963.
But his big black eyes were so sincere as he begged for morsels from passersby, that most of them couldn't resist feeding him something from their pockets.
And this little street urchin was different from most beggars -- he became such a part of the landscape, that he had his own street crossing on Broadway, and a special cage to house him in his later years when his vision began to fail.
Shorty the squirrel was a Tyler legend in the 1950s, who lived on the grounds of the Smith County courthouse and happily took food morsels from passersby. According to a column penned by former
Tyler Morning Telegraph
courthouse reporter George Conner Jr., "Shorty would perch himself on the shoulders of friends and would reach into their pockets for pecans. If there was no pecan, Shorty would give the errant one a chattering sermon, but he never bit anyone."
courthouse reporter George Conner Jr., "Shorty would perch himself on the shoulders of friends and would reach into their pockets for pecans. If there was no pecan, Shorty would give the errant one a chattering sermon, but he never bit anyone."
Broadcaster Paul Harvey memorialized the cuddly critter in his "The Rest of the Story" segment, saying memories of Shorty went back to the years before the current Smith County courthouse was built in 1954. "After the new one was built, after Broadway intersected the park and made a plaza, seeing old Shorty and saying hello somehow kept folks in touch with the way things once were," Harvey said in his broadcast.
By 1963, age was beginning to catch up with Shorty. Conner wrote in a February 1963 story published in the
Tyler Morning Telegraph
, that Shorty was seen gasping for breath and "crawling into some plaza growth." He vanished shortly afterward, and most thought he had gone on to that "last great pecan orchard where there are no dogs or kids."
, that Shorty was seen gasping for breath and "crawling into some plaza growth." He vanished shortly afterward, and most thought he had gone on to that "last great pecan orchard where there are no dogs or kids."
Shorty, who was 15 at the time, already had lived much longer than the average gray squirrel. Nathan Garner, regional wildlife director for Texas Parks and Wildlife in East Texas said he is not sure what the record is for gray squirrel survival in captivity but eight years is the average life span for a gray squirrel in the wild. He said Shorty is the longest living squirrel he has ever heard about.
Although Shorty denied his death in subsequent news reports, it was reported that groundskeeper Troy Martin checked Shorty over and decided he needed some medical help.
Conner bundled the creature up into a special cage, which had been constructed to keep him safe because he had grown blind and took him to see local veterinarian, Dr. Paul Turman. The doctor gave Shorty vitamin and penicillin shots and diagnosed a cataract in the squirrel's left eye, which he predicted would spread to the right eye.
The end came on Aug. 4, 1963, when Martin discovered Shorty dead in his special cage. According to his obituary in the
Tyler Morning Telegraph
, Shorty got to be famous because of slow days in the newspaper business.
, Shorty got to be famous because of slow days in the newspaper business.
"There wasn't a cub reporter worth his salt who at one time or the other didn't interview Shorty on some subject," the tribute read.
Admirers donated funds for a grave marker on the courthouse square shortly after Shorty's death.
The monument was stolen on two occasions, first in 1992 by several young men. The father of one of them discovered the marker in his trunk after he gave authorities permission to search his car when the youths tried to cash one of his stolen checks.
The monument was stolen again in 1996, and finally replaced in about 2006 and anchored into the ground to prevent theft.
The simple grave marker sits underneath a tree in a raised flower bed across the street from the Smith County courthouse, so that the legend of Shorty the squirrel can live on.
