2008 Woodie Awards
Professor advises students to keep clear of furry friends
Truth Esguerra
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News
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"Squirrels can carry a variety of diseases, from epizootic plague to rabies," Matson wrote in an e-mail.
According to the e-mail, Matson wrote that squirrels can transmit the disease if the squirrels are carriers.
"Squirrels run around and they run in front of me and they really scare me," said Holly Madden, a freshman social science major. "They don't really care about humans and it freaks me out."
Leonie Lloyd, a sophomore business administration major, disagreed.
"They look like they are comfortable. They are out in the open; they are not running from people, they are just relaxing," he said.
Matson wrote that people should not feed the squirrels on campus.
"They are wild animals. While people do feed them, I do no condone such activity," Matson wrote.
Dwayne Abella, a senior nursing major, said he had an unusual encounter with a squirrel on campus.
Abella said that one day he was sitting on a bench near the Science building, eating an Odwalla bar, when a squirrel came down a nearby tree and approached him.
He said the squirrel stood roughly three to four feet away from him and waited for Abella to give it some food.
Abella said after waiting several moments, the squirrel started to crawl toward him in a stealth-like manner.
After it crawled to within a foot of Abella, he said he pretended to kick the squirrel, trying to prevent it from coming closer.
He said after several attempts of scaring the squirrel, it tried to sneak behind him.
Abella said he again used his foot to frighten the squirrel and finally caused it climb back up the tree.
He said the confrontation lasted about five minutes.
Matson said it can take a squirrel only a couple minutes to learn how to eat from a person's hand.
"The squirrels on campus are used to humans being around," he wrote.
Kevin Lowe, an SJSU alumnus with a bachelor's degree in hospitality and management, said he feels like the squirrel population has increased this semester compared to other ones.
"They are all over the place," Madden said.
Nicole Jackson, a freshman public relations major, said she considered the squirrels behavior to be "weird."
"People may not be aware of what (diseases) they can have," she said.
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