Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton looks pretty different this semester. But out of the many changes on campus, an increased presence of wildlife has perhaps been this academic year’s most unexpected development.
Squirrels scurry up trees, grasping plastic-wrapped brownies in their jaws. Skunks rummage in trash cans under tents at night. Crows peck at scattered potato chips on the path from Commons to Dunham. Though critter sightings on campus are nothing new, there just seems to be
more
this semester. And many of these sightings tend to revolve around food.
“If there is an abundance of food and habitat, the wildlife numbers will go up,” said Don Croft, Hamilton’s Natural Resources Program Manager. Increased outdoor dining and waste receptacles have drawn squirrels and other wild animals to campus to scavenge our leftovers rather than find sustenance in nearby woods and meadows as usual.
When dining transitions indoors as the weather grows cooler, creatures that have found new homes on campus will no longer be able to sustain themselves with discarded leftovers and will be forced to return to their native woods and meadows. However, Croft worries that “the natural environment might not be able to provide enough food to support the numbers of animals.”
Human food can significantly harm wildlife. Professor of Biology Andrea Townsend has detected heightened cholesterol levels in campus crows, which she credits to their snacking on our leftovers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns that animals cannot distinguish wrappers from the food inside them and this packaging can severely damage their systems. Furthermore, animals have specialized diets that are very different from what humans eat. Too much human food can result in malnutrition or even death.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also cautions that animals who consume too much human food risk becoming too comfortable with human life. This may cause aggressive behavior.
Croft said that the Hamilton community should not worry too much about the increased presence of wildlife on campus; these animals fear us more than we should fear them. No incidents of animal aggression have been reported since this semester began. It is normal that some creatures have adjusted to nearby human life and Croft said not to fear when some bold squirrels refuse to flinch when approached.
“Campus Safety should be alerted when an animal is acting strangely or aggressively,” Croft stated. Otherwise, it is safe to carry on as normal.
These animals, especially skunks, have risen to a degree of fame over the course of the semester. Accounts like @SkunksOfHamilton and @HamiltonSkunkAppreciationPage are taking Instagram by storm. Both pages appeared in September and provide followers with humorous documentation of campus skunk sightings. The accounts offer a modern twist on Facebook’s now-dormant Squirrels of Hamilton College page by bringing animal sightings to a more youthful and modern platform.
“Every time I see a skunk, I send it to @SkunksOfHamilton,” said Molly Symonds ’23. “I am loyal to one and only one skunk account.” Students do not seem to mind spotting more wildlife around campus and enjoy the animal encounters posted on social media.
As we all wait for the pandemic to run its course and for normalcy to be restored to campus, we must either grow accustomed to the ubiquity of campus critters or take action to remove our food waste from their habitats.
