Missing your cat? Make a squirrel trap!

Author: H. Kay Merriman

One day this past fall, first-years Faisal Saeed, Daniel Odette and Eric Baginski decided they wanted to catch a squirrel. For a trap they propped up a box with a stick and disguised it by placing grass clippings on top. For bait they laid out salad and oranges. Then the three squirrel stalkers strung a string out a window between the stick and themselves and patiently waited in the security of the Battell Hall bathroom for their prize.

While not all students turn to capturing stray squirrels, many long for the family pet. This desire can drive already overstressed students to the edge - they get excited at the sight of a stray cat or rush to pet a random person's dog. But beyond the novelty of seeing a random pet, animals help students cope with the challenges of college life.

"Oberon's puppy therapy is amazing," says Lia Jacobsen '08 about Cook Commons Dean David Edleson's dog Oberon. When Jacobsen fell seriously ill her freshman year, Oberon acted as her healer.

"We laid down on the floor in the Cook Commons office for a few hours," says Jacobsen, "my head on his back and my arms wrapped around him."

Jacobsen credits at least part of her recovery to the canine comfort.

Unable to house their own dog or cat in their dorm rooms, some students have settled for small rodents or fish to keep them company.

Before the arrival of a Feb roommate with allergies, Kazya Lee '10 kept her pet hamster Panda in her dorm room.

"It was really nice having him here," says Lee. "I'd let him run around in the hall and tied a piece of yarn to his ball which I then tied to my door knob so he wouldn't get lost. All the people on my hall and the custodial staff loved himÖeveryone just loved to look at him and pet him." Hallmates affectionately referred to Panda as the "pirate hamster" because he lost one of his eyes to an infection.

Other students take the less-furry route. Annie Davison '08.5 decided to raise an electronic pet.

"Freshman year, I got a Tamagatchi as my college pet, but I gave up on that," says Davison.

One would think that the death of a pretend pet would deter a pet owner from buying again, but Davison did her research. She read a book about caring for goldfish before purchasing a tank, two fish and some snails during her sophomore year. Although many fish have been flushed since then, General Tso and John Paul III are currently happily and healthily residing in her room.

"They're just something to keep me company," Davison says with a smile.

The truly adventurous have opted for a more unusual pet.

"I've always wanted to catch a wild animal and what better than a squirrel for a Wonnacott mascot," says Saeed, about the squirrel trap he built in the fall with Odette and Baginski. The trio planned to domesticate the wild creature for companionship.

The three trappers "almost succeeded" when a squirrel entered their cage and they pulled the string, but one of the squirrel's feet was still under the box when it fell and the squirrel was able to escape.

Baginski offers a disclaimer, "We weren't going to maim it, skin it or make fanciful slippers out of the animal's hide - so any PETA enthusiasts needn't stress out." Disappointed, Odette lamented, "We would've tamed it and trained it to fetch us things."