Squirrel homes erected in New York park

NEW YORK, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A New York animal lover has donated five soft pine boxes to City Hall Park to serve as lodgings for squirrels looking for a place to wait out the winter.

Mark Garvin said he got the idea for the squirrel homes, which he had constructed for a "couple of hundred dollars" each, after he and his wife became friendly with the some 65 Eastern gray squirrels that reside in the park, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the New York Parks Department said the rodent apartments have attracted satisfied tenants.

"There are happy little squirrel families in there," spokeswoman Abigail Lootens said.

Similar squirrel residences have previously been constructed in other parts of the city, including Union Square, Tompkins Square and Washington Square.