Dana Hull / The Collegian
Tomorrow marks the end of Squirrel Appreciation week, and Wanda the squirrel has spent the week making her way around campus.
The cheerful rodent has visited classes and offices giving out “I love Fresno State squirrels” T-shirts, hung out in front of the University Student Union to take pictures with students and held several contests where students can win T-shirts.
“This week will inspire us all to continue to appreciate our campus squirrels,” Katie Johnson, director of Fresno State’s social media relations said.
In addition to Wanda’s appearances, the university communications office has been providing students with squirrel food so they can feed the real squirrels on campus.
“We’ve been on Facebook and Twitter, and we’ve been going to different offices,” social media intern Nicole Giglio said. “We’re just basically trying to have fun and get people hyped about squirrels.”
Squirrels have co-existed with students on campus for a long time, and there is even a biology unit on campus that studies them.
“I think [Squirrel Appreciation Week] is a great idea,” Bryan Felix, a freshman majoring in mass communications and Journalism, said. “I love the squirrels.”
The university communications office has a jar they keep stocked with squirrel food so their furry friends never have to go hungry.
“The squirrels always walk up to the door, so I feed them,” Felix said.
Today’s last contest involved people posting pictures and videos to Fresno State’s Facebook page. Whoever gets the most “likes” on their squirrely creation will also win a T-shirt.
The T-shirts and Wanda’s squirrel outfit were donated to the university communications department by a Fresno State alumna.
“A friend of mine really loves squirrels and donated the money,” Johnson said. “It was super low in cost.”
A gallery of photos of all of Wanda’s visits can be found on Fresno State’s Facebook page.
The Collegian put together its own gallery of photos. To see Fresno State from a squirrel’s eye view, visit The Collegian’s website.