POP CULTURE

Squirrels have found stardom in television and film. In 1959, cartoonist Jay Ward created the now world-famous Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Formally known as Rocket J. Squirrel, the brainy sleuth was known for outwitting villains Boris and Natasha with his friend Bullwinkle the Moose. Rocky starred in his own show, "Rocky and His Friends." Rocky and Bullwinkle will make their comeback in 2000 with the Hollywood blockbuster, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" starring Jason Alexander and Rene Russo. The film will feature the vocal talents of June Foray, the original voice for Rocky and Keith Scott, son of Bill Scott, the original voice for Bullwinkle.

Slappy and Skippy Squirrel debuted on "Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs" show in 1993 and have since entertained both children and adults around the world. A retired toon actress from the Looney Tunes golden era, Slappy spends most of her days causing trouble on the Warner Brothers lot. She especially likes to carry out pranks using dynamite with her innocent nephew and sidekick, Skippy. Slappy's popularity has generated a number of fansites on the Internet.

Secret Squirrel and his sidekick, Morocco Mole, premiered with their own Hanna Barbera cartoon in 1965. The show featuring the two madcap rodents was fashioned after the British spy movie craze of that era. Secret Squirrel was so popular that he returned in 1993 in eleven brand new episodes.

Real life Twiggy, the world's only water-skiing squirrel, has performed in boat shows all over the country and even earned guest apperances on "Good Morning America" and the "Rosie O'Donnell Show" with her owner, Lou Ann Best. The first Twiggy was born in 1978 in Florida and was trained to water ski by Lou Ann's husband, Chuck. Since then, there have been three Twiggys who have starred in the popular water skiing show. Twiggy's skis measure over a foot in length and she is towed behind a 2-foot-long remote-controlled boat. Twiggy can ski for as long as 30 minutes at a time!

Skunny the Squirrel is the star of his own computer games from Atomic Entertainment. Skunny has been called a "squirrel with an attitude." He is constantly rushing from one wild adventure to another, often accompanied by his girlfriend, Rosie.

Squirrels have made their mark in sports by serving as team mascots all over the globe. For example, China's first professional basketball team is called The Zhejiang Squirrels. Scotland has a track and field mascot named Super Squirrel.

Squirrels have also served as spokesrodents for various products. General Mills created a highly popular ad campaign featuring live squirrels for their Honey Nut Clusters Cereal. (To view Clusters' "Robo-Squirrel" ad, check out the website of special effects designer Peter Knowlton.) Measuring in at ten inches tall, the real-life star of the Clusters ads has generated such hype that he has since been named by one journalist as the "Leonardo Dicaprio of Squirrels."

Although the idea is, needless to say, unpalatable to the squirrel enthusiast, our bushy-tailed friends are considered fine cuisine in different parts of the United States. Sylvia Bashline’s The Bounty of the Earth Cookbook, published in 1994, features a dozen recipes for squirrel, including Curried Fried Squirrel, Fricasseed Squirrel, Squirrel Cakes and Squirrel and Broccoli Casserole. Bashline recommends a white Zinfandel with her squirrel dishes.

Before the Frappuccino, there was the Pink Squirrel. This confection is made by pouring cream, cream de cocoa and amaretto over ice and shaking until frothy.

Squirrels have made their mark in the English language. The Webster Dictionary defines the word "squirrelly" as "odd or crazy, an allusion to the squirrel's diet of nuts".

Mepps, a famous fishing lure maker, regularly trades its spinning lures for the tail of any gray, black, or fox squirrel. For years, Mepps lure-makers tried experimenting with synthetic fibers to tie their spinners, but nothing has proven as good as squirrel fur.

A little known secret in Hollywood: professional makeup artists insist on using brushes made from squirrel hair. The “hair is soft, leaves less makeup, and gives the face an otherworldly sheen.”