A California ground squirrel looks around at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Fremont, Calif., Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
CONCORD — Police here raided a 19-year-old man’s home and made a startling discovery — he’d apparently decapitated a squirrel and kept the head in a jar as a memento, according to authorities.
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The April police response, which hasn’t been previously reported, came after a tipster told Concord police that he’d seen the 19-year-old man brandishing a pistol. Police investigated the teen, including by reviewing a social media page where he displayed the squirrel’s head and videotaped himself killing and swallowing a tadpole, authorities said.
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When another user inquired how he’d captured the squirrel, the man said he’d simply found it in the roadway, authorities said. The 19-year-old Concord resident was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty, but thus far no charges have been filed, court records show.
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