Assistant Online Editor Kelsey Weekman found and fed a wild squirrel as part of The Daily Tar Heel's Bucket List for UNC students. She documented her experience here:
If you told me when I woke up this morning that I’d be adding “squirrel advocate” to my resume, I don’t think I’d believe you. But here I am.
Don’t call me a hero; I’m just a simple woman answering the call of duty to feed a squirrel on campus.
The first stage of my mission was to find a morsel in the barren wasteland that is my post-Fall Break cabinet.
Would squirrels be interested in seasonal frosted cookies, raw cookie dough or bagels? I settled on the latter because I dearly care about the calorie intake of that tiny, helpless creature. And because those other things are mine.
So where them squirrels at?
In the woods, you’d think. But no. Much like the Little Mermaid, UNC squirrels want to be where the people are.
I strolled to the Upper Quad and my issue became choosing which precious rodent would receive the gift of my rejected pantry food. I laid my eyes on the one that seemed the purest of heart.
I did not reach out and feed it, obviously. What, with all the rabies and salmonella and ebola in the world? That would be foolish.
I stood 40 feet away and threw bits of bagel in the general direction of the squirrel, but I am neither powerful nor coordinated so my crumbs were thrown in vain.
What I lack in athleticism I make up for in passion and bravery, so I inched closer. For Gryffindor.
With three feet between us, I watched as the squirrel nibbled on that tiny piece of bagel. It was so peaceful, so beautiful, so right.
Had it been a movie, Celine Dion music would have been playing in the background. I think I saw a rainbow.
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