Squirrels befriending students
For years, squirrels have freely roamed around the SUNY Geneseo campus: running up and down the trees, patrolling the sidewalk, or rummaging through trash cans, the furry friends have become a Geneseo staple. Students are often seen taking pictures of them, but this dynamic has now become problematic.
In recent weeks, there have been reports of squirrels approaching students, and even allowing contact. While having a squirrel in your hand may seem cute, the seemingly harmless act could pose a major issue. The rodents appear harmless as they are only about a pound and proudly display their fluffy tail, but they are wild animals. As students have seen, they scavenge for food around campus, quickly nibbling at anything they can get their paws on. Many have seen this as an open invitation to hand-feed them.
It may seem like nothing to hand the crust of your sandwich to a nearby squirrel, but in doing so, you and others could be at risk. Regardless of how they behave, squirrels are wild animals and are rather unpredictable. When feeling anxious, they often scamper away, but many have been known to assume an offensive position. When the latter occurs, they can bite, jump, and claw their victims. They can move up to 20mph, which is quick enough to bite a person multiple times before being able to shake it off.
Squirrels can scratch and bite, but it must not be forgotten the number of diseases they can carry. As wild rodents, they are known to carry extremely infectious diseases such as typhus and ringworm, along with many more. The diseases are not only spread through biting but even through contact. Petting and even picking up the local squirrels pose a major threat for not only the animal and individual but also the countless people they interact with and potentially expose to infection.
Similar incidents have been seen elsewhere. At the University of Rochester, a red fox had become a spectacle around the large campus. While it had not posed an immediate threat to any students or staff, its level of comfort was concerning, given the species and proximity to people. Even though most students were smart and kept their distance, some approached the wild animal. Thankfully, nobody was harmed in any way, but the fox had to be relocated to preemptively avoid any issues.
Geneseo’s community is solely responsible for how the squirrels are interacted with, and actions must be taken with safety in mind—not just for human safety, but the safety of the animals. They are rarely domesticated, and they are meant to roam the wild. Human food in general is unsafe for them, as they have a specific diet. Naturally, they will stumble upon scraps, but making a point to feed them can not only damage their digestive system but also cause them to lose the drive they need to survive in the world. As they remain a staple in the SUNY Geneseo community, people must remember to share the space with them, and not cross the human-animal boundary.
Thumbnail Photo via WikiMedia Commons