A seemingly innocuous campus creature became a threat to Colorado College student safety earlier this school year.
In October, Ella Fering ‘28 attempted to lure a squirrel, offering it pistachios by hand. The rodent approached willingly before latching onto Fering’s finger, puncturing the skin and drawing blood.
Doctors at UCHealth Emergency Care declined to give Fering a rabies shot, but did place her on a week-long course of antibiotics. As emergency room doctors explained, Colorado squirrels rarely carry rabies.
According to Director of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Cathy Buckley, students should not initiate contact with the tame squirrels on campus.
That’s because of a different risk.
“We have had, in the past, to put out notices to campus when we have had the squirrel population in the vicinity of campus infected with fleas that carry the bubonic plague,” Buckley said.
The El Paso County Public Health Department monitors local squirrel populations for these threats. As Buckley explained, warmer temperatures draw squirrels out from their dens.
“We strongly discourage feeding of the squirrels,” Buckley said. “That creates a habit where they’ll come back.”
Campus Safety and Facilities use nets to capture squirrels, particularly in cases where they break into residential areas through screens.
The last recorded incident of a squirrel biting a Colorado College student preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, Buckley said.
When asked whether the incident made her fearful of campus squirrels, Fering shook her head.
“No … and I would do it again,” she said. “I will always love the squirrels.”