From sandwich-stealing squirrels to deer in Meredith Hall, Drake is a host to many critters. Many students have had encounters with these creatures that have left lasting impressions.
One such student is senior journalism student Parker Wright. Wrighthas had numerous memorable run-ins with the squirrels, recalling specifically one event involving his lunch.
“A squirrel jumped onto my backpack, which made me panic and caused me to drop my sandwich,” Wright said. “And a second one came from I don’t know where and stole the sandwich and ran away.”
It isn’t just students who get to experience the campus squirrels that run around campus.
SJMC Advertising Professor Sandy Henry admits to having become fixated on the squirrels in recent years.
“Since Meredith reopened after its renovation, I’ve become slightly obsessed with them. I think something about the renovation did something to their life patterns around the building.” Henry then described the squirrel’s unusual behavior stating, “They’re nonstop back and forth through here [Meredith].”
There is one person, however, who has taken their appreciation of Drake’s squirrels to a whole new level. The anonymous Instagram account @SquirrelsofDrake has achieved notoriety among students, creating an online community surrounding the student experience of seeing the squirrels.
“I just remember being on Instagram and looking at all the silly accounts that people have created based on the Drake lore,” the account’s owner said.
The @SquirrelsofDrake account currently boasts more than 300 followers on Instagram.
“I feel like it is just a silly fun account,” the account’s owner said. “[I] didn’t think [the account] would get as much attention as it did.”
Squirrels aren’t the only creatures that reside on campus. Last semester, deer visited campus during October. Few students had run-ins with them before they left, but the mention of them brought back a very vivid memory for Henry.
“10, maybe 12 years ago, we had a deer in [Meredith],” Henry said.“A deer that clearly lost its way was freaked out and was running across campus… and rammed through one of the glass panels into the building.” After a chaotic few minutes, the deer eventually managed to find its way out of the crowded Meredith Hall, walking out the east exit before running off towards Collier-Scripps.
While deer may make a rare appearance on campus, one animal is always hanging around Drake somewhere, and people are more than happy to see him.
In 2009, Erin Bell brought her bulldog, Porterhouse, to Relays for the Beautiful Bulldog Contest. Little did she know, it would change her life forever, because Porterhouse had won that year’s Beautiful Bulldog contest.
“Typically [the winner of the Beautiful Bulldog contest] is around for Drake Relays and then goes back to normal life,” Bell said. This did not end up being the case for Porterhouse, as students quickly became infatuated with him. Following Relays, the football coach at the time asked Bell to bring Porterhouse to home games. Porterhouse’s fame grew and pretty soon he was making appearances at admitted student events. The pair’s involvement with Drake only increased from there.
After his passing, the campus felt as if it was missing something. This hole in students’ hearts eventually led to Drake adopting the live mascot program in 2015. And what better first live mascot than one of Bell’s other bulldogs, Griff I?
“It’s pretty amazing that it has become exactly what I knew it could be early on,” Bell said. “I never imagined that this would be my life, but it has been really rewarding to see.”
Even though Porterhouse and Griff I are now gone, their memory remains.
“There’s a Porterhouse mural in the basement of Olmsted that was a LEAD class project,” Bell said. She went on to mention that the bulldog statue outside of Old Main is actually a statue of the original Griff, “installed in honor of the live mascot program and the first Griff.”
From squirrels to dogs, Drake’s campus is populated by a multitude of creatures. Some are always around, while others only come out at night. No matter what they are or where they come from, they will always be a unique part of this campus.
