Tyler residents theorize what happened to Shorty the Squirrel. Some speculate the city's furry mascot was electrocuted or hit by a car, while others believe he "woke up dead" one day. One thing is sure: the infamous rodent left an unforgettable impression on the city.
"As we redo the square starting in January 2025, we feel like we owe it to history and to the people who knew Shorty, who wanted to see if he's here and preserve his remains," Mayor Don Warren said. "When we do the new square, we'll have a statue of Shorty, and we'll bury the remains — or symbolically, we'll bury some dirt from this site below where the statue will be." Representatives of the City of Tyler, Smith County and Visit Tyler gathered Monday to exhume Shorty the Squirrel's remains from the downtown square at the corner of Erwin Street and Broadway Avenue, which will later be relocated.
The nearly 15-year-old squirrel, Shorty, was buried in August 1963. Shorty the Squirrel's original grave stone located the downtown Tyler square at the corner of Erwin Street and Broadway Avenue. (Contributed Photo/Robert Reed) When Shorty was buried, he was placed under a holly tree.
In the 1990s, when the square was redone before, a retaining wall was built to preserve the tree and the grave site. But over time, the tree died and was replaced, possibly disturbing the actual squirrel's remains. "We don't know if he was buried in a cigar box, a little squirrel coffin or just wrapped in a blanket," Warren said.
"But aft.