EL MONTE – In what can only be described as a modern tech mystery with a furry twist, local resident Tony Garcia says a squirrel is responsible for his spotty Wi-Fi signal.
“It started with buffering,” Garcia said, standing next to a half-chewed router. “Then I noticed the squirrel sitting on the fence with what looked like my Netflix password in its tiny hands.”
Garcia, who lives near Zamora Park, says the squirrel shows up every morning around 9 a.m., right when his Zoom meetings begin. “It’s always on time. That’s suspicious.”
He’s nicknamed the squirrel “Chip,” short for “chipmunk,” even though it is definitely a squirrel. “I’m not great with animals,” he admitted.
Garcia has since launched a GoFundMe to buy a squirrel-proof modem and hired a friend’s cousin to build a “tin foil Faraday cage for the porch.”
Experts say it’s more likely a technical issue, but Garcia isn’t convinced. “He’s got the eyes of a hacker.”
Neighbors say they’ve also seen Chip, often lounging on a tree branch, seemingly unfazed by the accusations.
For now, Garcia is considering switching to carrier pigeons. “They never buffer,” he said. “Just poop.”