Esteban Cortez / The Collegian

There is an animal sanctuary on campus at Fresno State.  It is in public view where many students pass by every day in between their classes, though most are oblivious to its existence.

“Wow, I had absolutely no idea that was there and I walk by it all the time,” said passerby Chris Cooke, a geology student at Fresno State.

The squirrel sanctuary is located just outside the Office of University Communications, and marked only with a brown, homemade sign in a window.  It is a small, open garden of shrubbery, dirt and trees to which tiny baskets full of peanuts are tied and refilled daily.

“They don’t like the salted ones.  We gave them a salted before and they threw them back at us after smelling them,” said Leilani Esqueda, a student assistant at the communications office.

The sanctuary came to be approximately one year ago after Fresno State staff members, including Esqueda, began hand feeding the campus squirrels nuts. These frequent gifts of snacks prompted their overly friendly and overly comfortable attitudes toward people, said Esqueda.

“One day a group of us were just walking on campus to another building and a herd of squirrels came charging at us,” said Esqueda.  “It was amazing, but freaky, and we were worried that their behavior might startle other people [who] didn’t know them.”

The sanctuary was designed to give the squirrels a place to eat peanuts and frolic safely, where they would not be in harm’s way or a nuisance to students.  A dozen or so can be seen at any given time in the sanctuary, eating, climbing, playing and especially chasing one another.

The habitat inspired the first-ever Squirrel Week, which took place in April of this year in appreciation of the Fresno State squirrels.  It is hoped to become an annual event.

Katie Johnson, a former Fresno State student, helped kick off the week by wearing a custom-made “Wanda the Squirrel” costume, complete with a T-shirt that read, “I Heart Fresno State.”  Wanda is the mascot for Squirrel Week.

“It was such a positive, fun sight that got everyone excited, I think,” said April Schulthies, Fresno State’s catalog editor, who was in attendance.

“I love the squirrels so much,” said Esqueda.  “They’re cute and friendly, but the best part about them is if one thinks you have a peanut for him, he’ll stand on his hind legs, rest his little hands on his chest and wait patiently for you,” she added.