In the past few years, squirrels seem to be everywhere on campus. From the giant inflatable squirrel that welcomed new students in August, to the gleaming squirrel statute carved out of a block of ice in January, these charming rodents have become the unofficial mascot of Grinnell College.

This 1894 cartoon and poem, “The Ballad of the Squirrels,” shows that our love affair with these furry denizens goes back a long way.  The cartoon shows Walter Scott Hendrixson—the Dodge Professor of Chemistry, long-time Grinnell faculty member, and apparently squirrel “devotee”—spending some quality time with campus squirrels. Hendrixson was known to feed them regularly, along with other faculty members (the poem mentions the college organist, John Ross Frampton, and the classics professor, William Arthur Heidel).

This yearbook image shows that the student artist did a good job of capturing Hendrixson’s likeness (particularly his impressive, walrus-like, mustache).

Grinnell’s love affair with squirrels was part of a larger trend in the early 20th century, as college campuses across the country sought to transform their grounds into more park-like environments, and actively encouraged birds and squirrels to become residents, helping mitigate some of the feelings of being isolated from nature that were affecting a generation experiencing rampant urbanization (as well as the disappearance of wildlife & wilderness in rural communities).