Making Friends With the Squirrels at Texas State

Squirrels are little creatures that are very easy to find. They like to climb trees, look for nuts and occasionally bother people for food. If you love squirrels as much as me, then you would enjoy going out into the woods in hopes of encountering one for entertainment. Anyone sitting on a park bench with food out will most likely be found by a squirrel. This blog post will help anyone encountering a squirrel know what to do when the time comes.

When encountering a squirrel, many people coax one over to them with food. This is a successful tactic, because what living thing does not want food? However, here are a couple key issues to consider when encountering a Squirrel.

Do not feed the squirrel anything unhealthy.

Spend a dollar on a pack of regular, unsalted peanuts and squirrels will come running after you. Peanuts are healthy for squirrels and cheap. This is a good go-to choice when feeding squirrels, because it is both healthy for the squirrel and economical for you.

Squirrels may bite. Be aware.

When feeding a squirrel, it is best to throw the food down onto the ground for
the squirrel to pick up. If you insist on hand-feeding wildlife, put a single peanut on the tip of your finger, and then bring your hand down to the ground so the squirrel will have easy access to the peanut.

Caution: the squirrel may bite you if you use this tactic. When feeding a squirrel, you put yourself at risk and are responsible for your own actions.

Squirrels are animals that the vast majority of people living on the North American continent are probably familiar with. Squirrels are cute little brown creatures who cannot seem to figure out how to stand still. I loved chasing squirrels as a kid and I still do as an adult. I decided to ask around and try to get some people to share an encounter they may have had with a squirrel:

“One day, waiting before class, I was listening to music and a squirrel randomly jumped in my lap. He went on top of my bag. Looked at me and ran away. I went off and bought a bag of nuts. Returned to the same place five-minutes later and I am pretty sure I fed the same squirrel.” – Miguel Munoz

“Walking out of to my car one day while in a Kohl’s parking lot, a baby Squirrel followed me to my car while running in between my feet. Then the squirrel crawled in my tire that way I couldn’t leave.” – Ali Uresti

“We had just bought some ice cream from a local vender when I saw this squirrel resting on top of a trash can. I got really close to it, because I wanted to take its picture. Usually, they do not allow you to get too close, but this one allowed me to get close to it that I was literately within arm’s reach of it. We made eye contact while it remained in its resting position. That day I got my best squirrel picture ever.” – Taylor Burrell

“There was a squirrel on campus that let me get really close to it, but it was making super strange noises. I’m pretty sure it had rabies but that was the closest I had ever gotten to a squirrel.”- Elisha Jeferies

“When my sister was about 11 years old, our uncle bought her a squirrel as a pet. She named him Daniel and he was a baby when she got him. She eventually bought him a cage along with fruits/vegetables. Every day, she would take him out of the cage and he would run around the house. She loved playing with him, he would bite my grandparents when they tried to pick him up but he never bit my sister. Daniel was with us for about five years. One day, his teeth started to fall off and he started to run very slow then he couldn’t run anymore. Daniel eventually passed away, and my sister felt really bad and finally she learned that squirrels shouldn’t be in cages, but live in nature.

Here is a poem my sister wrote:

Daniel was a good friend of mine.
He was a squirrel and he was kind.
Alas he is no longer in his cage.
Because my friend dies of old age…” -Blue Chonpreteep

Encountering squirrels is something anyone can do. If you have trouble finding a squirrel, just be patient, one may find you instead. Squirrels are cute, loving creatures who seem to be almost everywhere. Squirrel lovers, like me, will believe that they are special from their cute little nose to their bushy tails.