Watch Out, Squirrels! Wayne State Students Create Squirrel Watching Club

Jackson Kelley, News Writer

“It just started as a funny thing with the navigators here at Wayne and they were like ‘You should do it,’” President of Scrat Pack Sophia Bergman, said. “They were like ‘Name it Scrat Pack after the squirrel from ‘Ice Age.’”  

Scrat Pack meets the first and third Wednesday of every month. “We meet by the Willow Bowl,” Bergman said. “We meet around 6 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., depending on when a majority of the members get there.”  

“We always start off the first 20 to 25 minutes doing an introduction of Scrat Pack and what our plans are for the future,” Bergman said. “Then after that 25 minutes, we’ll start going on a walk. By Hahn, there’s the white-tailed squirrel.”  

The white-tailed squirrel has a white tail and a brown body. “Personally, I’ve never seen a white-tailed squirrel,” Bergman said. “I’ve seen an all-white one or an all-black one, but I’ve never seen just a white tail until I saw the one by Hahn. It used to live by Humanities last year.”  

Contrary to popular belief, not all the squirrels on campus are fat. “I’ve seen some skinny squirrels,” Bergman said. “Otherwise, the ones that are closer to campus and to the library or by the student center, those are some big boys. I do not recommend hand feeding the squirrels. If they are in a trash can, just leave them alone.” 

Scrat Pack has an Instagram called wscscratpack which updates members on weather cancellations and other important information.   

“It started off with just six people and it was our officers,” Bergman said. “But since yesterday, it has gained up to 49. We are rapidly growing. It helps that Carter Ossian, Student Senate President, gave us a little shout out on his Instagram page.”  

After Ossian shouted out Scrat Pack on Instagram, many people started following the page and emailing asking to join the club.  

One of the Holland Academic Success Center workers helped make it happen. “She started recruiting students at New Student Registration, saying we have a squirrel watching club, who wants to be involved?” Emily Keady, a student advisor, said.  “The past two years at new student registration, I have talked about the importance of getting involved on campus. I have always made a joke about how I love the squirrels on campus and how if anyone ever wants to start a squirrel watching club, I would be the advisor.”