Photos

Courthouse squirrels get houses fit for a judge

Register-Herald photo by Rick Barbero Curtis Bias, mapping supervisor at the Raleigh County Courthouse, built two squirrel houses from material stripped in the old courtroom.
Register-Herald photo by Rick Barbero
Curtis Bias, mapping supervisor at the Raleigh County Courthouse, built two squirrel houses from material stripped in the old courtroom.

BECKLEY, W.Va. — “It’s kind of a funny story…,” Curtis Bias begins.

Bias, county mapping supervisor at the Raleigh County Assessor’s Office, said he and his co-workers always enjoyed watching three squirrels play in front of their office.

One squirrel in particular caught their attention, probably because he was missing his tail. The workers nicknamed him Stumpy, and continued watching him play until one unfortunate day when Stumpy was run over by a vehicle.

“Everyone saw Stumpy flattened, and we decided to have a 2 p.m. memorial service.”

The workers filed outside for a quick break to honor the fallen squirrel, and during the service, Stumpy’s nest fell out of the tree, right on top of Bias’ head.

Bias took that as a sign and a call to action.

He had worked previously at the state Capitol and noticed squirrel boxes in the trees in Charleston, and he decided to construct a few of them for his mother, using reclaimed wood from a demolished barn.

So as the old Raleigh County courthouse rooms were being demolished, Bias reclaimed the beautiful oak wood and recycled it into two squirrel boxes for the two remaining squirrels that frequent an area outside the assessor’s office…

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