Loyola Students Get Down to Earth by Feeding Campus Squirrels

On a cool September morning, Gabrielle Zinkel sits among the bushes in the East Quad. In her hand sits not a book nor a laptop, but a bag of pecans. She makes a clicking call, and a squirrel comes bounding up to her, plucking one of the nuts out of her hand.

Zinkel, a fourth-year psychology major, is one of the several students who feed the squirrels on campus. She said she’s been feeding them since her first-year when she was looking for comfort after her father passed away.

“I was always taking care of him, and after he passed, I just wanted to take care of something again,” Zinkel said. “Caring for the animals was my way of healing myself.” 

Having grown up around animals — her dad legally changed their home’s name to “the Zinkel Zoo” — Zinkel said she habitually enjoys feeding animals, including local geese, deer and pigeons.

Zinkel now feeds the squirrels semi-regularly, taking breaks to ensure they don’t rely entirely on her for food. Despite her efforts to stay secluded, the hobby does attract attention, Zinkel said.

“A lot of people have come up to me with hate.” Zinkel said. “A lot of people have come to me with love. A lot of people have recorded me with permission and without permission. A lot of double takes.”

In one encounter, someone called Zinkel a “freak” and told her to “go back to the forest.”

“At the time, I was pretty offended by this, but as I’ve gotten older, I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever. I am a freak. I would love to go to the forest.’” Zinkel said.

The responses aren’t all negative, however. Zinkel said she’s met many people and made friends through the hobby. One connection was with first-year computer science major Mitchell Radzienda, who saw Zinkel feeding the squirrels while on a walk and stopped to join her. 

“It was more of just a spontaneous, honestly magical, experience because I’ve always wanted to feed squirrels,” Radzienda said. “They’re just adorable.” 

Radzienda said he hasn’t been feeding the squirrels regularly, in the interest of keeping the number of people feeding them low. After Zinkel graduates, Radzienda said he’ll probably start feeding them.

“Getting the chance to finally do something I wanted to do for a while, have a cute little critter you really never get to touch eating out of the palm of my hand,” Radzienda said.

Third-year Lu Duffee said they also regularly feed the squirrels, having been inspired after watching a community member do so their first-year.

“It makes me feel so in tune with nature,” Duffee said. “Like a Disney princess moment.”

The squirrels have distinct behaviors and can recognize faces, according to Duffee.

“I recognized one of them from last year, which is crazy because they’re squirrels and they all look the same, but I spent so much time with them,” Duffee said. “One was super social. I named her Cashew because she really likes cashews, and we call her Cash.” 

Duffee, an environmental science major, said they’re conscious about the impact of feeding wildlife and consulted with professors on the impacts of their hobby.

Zinkel also makes efforts to curb any potential negative effects. The most common reactions Zinkel said she receives are worries over the squirrels becoming dependent, fear of the squirrels harming her or other students and of the squirrels becoming too trusting of humans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture discourages the feeding of squirrels and other wildlife. Their list of reasons echo Zinkel’s concerns, such as wildlife becoming accustomed to human interaction as well as issues like public health concerns and negative impacts on the animals’ diet.

“I still want them to have their survival instincts,” Zinkel said. “I don’t want them to get to the point where they’re depending on me, or they’re trusting people too much.”

Some students have had negative interactions with the squirrels, however. First-year advertising and public relations major Sydney Craig described being approached, then followed by a squirrel on the East Quad.

“It was cute for a little bit, but it started coming progressively closer, and it had no fear,” Craig said. “I don’t want to be less than five feet away from a squirrel with that distance progressively getting smaller.” 

Craig said she believed students should stop feeding the squirrels to curb this dependence and limit unwanted interactions with the squirrels.

“I don’t want to have another standoff with a squirrel,” Craig said.

Dr. Ray Dybzinski, an ecology professor who’s been at Loyola for nine years, was one of the professors Duffee consulted about their feeding.

Dybzinski acknowledged the potential negatives of feeding squirrels, but said if students are conscious of these dangers and act responsibly, the risk can be outweighed.

“Anything we can do to encourage rewilding of urban landscapes and connections to nature is one of the most important things that we can be doing right now,” Dybzinski said. “People have to love nature before they have the internal motivation to really protect nature.”

Duffee also emphasized the unique joy connecting to squirrels gives them.

“I just feel like it gives me so much joy to be able to hang out on the quad, and those little squirrels will come up to me,” Duffee said. “I feel like that’s just such a unique experience that you’re not really going to get in any other place. I think that other people should be able to experience that too.”

One of Zinkel’s first memories with the squirrels on campus is among her favorites.

“A couple of days after my father passed away, one of the squirrels recognized me by face and crawled all the way up to my shoulder, and he just kinda sat with me.” Zinkel said. “It was such unique timing, and it made me feel really good. I was just like, ‘You know, I’m gonna be ok.’”