Vanderbilt is home to not only students, faculty and staff, but is also thousands of tiny denizens that hop around our arboretum of a campus with more enthusiasm than a freshman on coke.
Our tree-hugging friends, the squirrels, may actually outnumber students. Their antics are enough to put a smile on anyone’s face that can tear their head away from their iPhones long enough in between classes to notice.
They bring a lot to a normally still campus. On a macro-level, these scavengers pick up any wrappers or last bites you shamelessly shot into a trashcan and missed. Even if you did make the shot, the squirrels actually go into the trashcans looking for last bite leftovers. Knowing that those crumbs don’t go to waste assuage the calorie-conscious Vandy girl to feel better about herself.
Probably the most amusing trait of Vander-squirrels is their brashness. Every year there are around ten reported squirrel attacks on campus. I was lucky enough to witness one second semester last year. It was March, the last month of squirrel mating season, and one squirrel had obviously not been lucky. When a girl passed a trashcan wielding a high-eaten snickers bar, the squirrel took its chance to get back at the female race, squirrel or human. Leaping from his hiding spot in the trashcan, the ambitious squirrel mounted the girl’s shoulder, and crawled down her arm, eying the feast. The girl pulled a 360, letting go of the Snickers and bucking off the bushy-tailed foe. With the candy bar on the ground, the squirrel grabbed it, and bolted into a branch of the tree.
These attacks may be scary if you are the victim of the assailant, but as a spectator, they help add comedy to such a serious campus. Whether friend or foe, our acorn-burying friends help maintain the grove of trees we call home, and provide sparks of entertainment along the way.
