It is almost impossible to go from one place to another on Bluffton’s campus without seeing a squirrel. Not only is there an abundance of squirrels, but you can see them in three different colors—black, brown and gray.
The squirrels are a part of the campus community. Someone even created the Instagram account dedicated to the squirrels of Bluffton University. Who? As of now it is unknown.
On Friday, April 13, the Instagram account @squirrelz_of_BU was created. Squirrelz_of_BU said the reason the account was created then was due to the squirrels “just [waking] up from hibernation.”
There are some other similar accounts on Instagram.
For example, “@squirrels_of_uga.” They are “capturing the greatness of University of Georgia squirrels.”
Another example is the “@squirrelsofvanderbilt” (Squirrels of Vanderbilt) account. They claim to have “a three to one squirrel to student ratio.”
There is also a “@squirrelsofoxford” (Squirrels of Oxford) account. They also have people DM them pictures of squirrels.
There is even an account for the squirrels of New York City, “@squirrelsofnyc” (Squirrels of NYC).
“The account was started to represent the large squirrel population on campus and their struggles,” said the administrator of the Squirrelz_of_BU account.
The first picture that was posted to the account was of a squirrel in a tree outside a campus building. It has 15 likes. Other locations the squirrels have been captured at are on top of Shoker, up in trees, perched on top of a trash can and jumping along the pathways.
Photo by Nicole Centofanti.
The caption said, “To [sic] hot to be gathering nuts and chasing students. Gotta chill today. #nutz.”
The Squirrelz_of_BU account as of now has 15 posts, 165 followers and is following 367 people. Ten people have direct messaged the account with their pictures of the Bluffton University squirrels.
“We are the squirrels of Bluffton University,” said the Squirrelz_of_BU account description. “DM us your squirrel pics. Business inquiries can be negotiated in nuts.”
The account has a mixture of people sending in squirrel pictures and posting their own. Some of the Instagram accounts that have sent in squirrel pictures are: @arie_cox, @alexiscashmoney, @nesbitcaleb and @ekkumobbu.
“The account started to take pictures, and then the DM’s started rolling in,” said Squirrelz_of_BU.
“I decided to send in a picture because I saw a squirrel right outside the window at the art building and thought, ‘Ahhh, I could take a photo and send it in,’” said @ekkumobbu, AKA Bluffton student Allyson Fuqua. “I was joking and laughing about it with my roommate, Emily. And, they responded to me not even an hour later.”
How many squirrels do students see on their commute to classes? Are the squirrels really that interesting?
Photo by Nicole Centofanti.
“The account was created for fun and laughter from the squirrel shenanigans,” said Squirrelz_of_BU. “(Also for the advocacy of the squirrels).”
Fuqua said she thought the account “connect[ed] us on campus.”
“Even though it was small, it was something that brought laughs and smiles to my friends and [my] face,” said Fuqua. “I loved it.”
If you want to be apart of the squirrel fun, you can follow or send squirrel pictures to @squirrelz_of_BU on the Instagram app.
“The account took off really fast, faster than expected, and it is exciting to see where it will go,” said Squirrelz_of_BU.
