Author: Aimee LaBrie
We used to have an employee here who referred to me as “The Squirrel Lady,” because every time we were outside together walking on Locust, I would make a “ccchhi-ccchhi” noise at the numerous tame squirrels that dot the green (roughly translated, “ccchhi-ccchhi” means “I have potato chips” in Squirrelese). I suppose I can’t blame her for thinking it odd that I would want to feed the squirrels–to most people, they are just rodents with fluffy tails. But spend any time on the Penn campus, and you will see that the squirrels here are more like cats than rats; they are not afraid of people and they will eat pretty much anything you give them. Not only that, but they will come up to you and take the food from your fingers with tiny, human-like paws and then sit back on their haunches and gnaw it up until their cheeks are plump. I am certain there will come a day when I call over to a squirrel and it runs toward me, takes a flying leap off of a bench, and lands on my face. Until then, I’ll just continue to be The Squirrel Lady.
Here is a photographic example of how busy the squirrels are on campus, and how they strive to stay on top of news from the DP (photos courtesy of Leigh Ann):
He has found today's newspaper. Now just has to figure out how to get it back to his nest.
In dragging it back home, he panics, wondering if perhaps this is too much paper for his limited space.
Practicality wins out as he chooses just the celebrity section.
Frankly Penn 
I loved this squirrel! He was all over the camera.
I wonder if he is the one who has that multi-colored nest just outside of Sweeten?