U.S. News and World Report lists the University on the “third tier” of national universities. The Fiske Guide to Colleges calls the school one of the nation’s “Best Buys” in education. But Jona than Gottshall, who has a different system for rating college campuses, rates the University a “two squirrel” school.
College rankings have been done before, but never quite as Gottshall does on his “World o’ Squirrels” Web site, which ranks 58 national colleges and universities not by academics, but instead by how “squirrel-friendly” their campuses are.
Gottshall, who is now a librarian for the Los Angeles Times, began the list six years ago while he was studying for a master’s degree in history at California State University at Fullerton. Often during that time, he said, he would visit nearby college campuses to use their library archives for research.
An avid rodent fan — he said he has “loved small, furry animals” since the 1982 release of the movie “The Secret of Nimh” — Gottshall would often feed the local squirrel population on his visits to these campuses.
From this experience, he said, he noticed not all campuses were as “squirrely” as others. So, he decided to post rankings of the colleges on his Web site, www.gottshall.com, awarding more cartoon “squirrels” to a school depending on its squirrel population and how that population was treated.
Squirrel behavior can tell a person a lot about the student body, he said.
“If you’re on a campus and the squirrels are friendly … it shows a campus environment where students hang around more,” he said.
At schools where students spend less time on campus, he said, squirrels become less adjusted to human contact and are more s kittish of people than at schools where they are around students on a regular basis.
Since Gottshall started the list in 1995, the site has grown to include rankings for many schools outside California as well. For information on these schools, he re lies on e-mails sent to him by people who have visited these campuses.
While California schools can receive a rating of up to five squirrels, all other schools are ranked on a scale of one to three squirrels, he said, because squirrels tend to be much more scarce in California than in other parts of the country. However, he said he is working to create one uniform ranking.
On the three-squirrel system, a rating of two squirrels like the University’s is “pretty good,” he said.
“It shows your campus is a squirrel-friendly place,” he added.
But in order to attain the prestigious “three squirrel” ranking, Gottshall said those on campuses can’t just say there are many squirrels on campus — they must also have a good story relating a squirrel experience.
For example, the account sent by a Williams College student describing her “out of body” squirrel experience. Or a report by a Penn State observer who described squirrels that “jump on unsuspecting students they believe are harboring treat s.”
Still, University students seem to be in agreement that local squirrels are among the friendliest around. Senior Ashley Spencer said the squirrels on campus are very trusting of people — maybe too trusting for their own good.
“I had a squirre l eat out of my hand on campus once,” she said.
While feeding squirrels is a common practice — and one advocated by Gottshall — University grounds manager Tim King said feeding the local wildlife only leads to trouble.
Feeding squirrels may resu lt in overpopulation, he said, which in turn can lead to a lack of food sources for squirrels. When that happens, he said, squirrels may resort to chewing tree bark, which can kill trees. Not only that, he said, but when people leave food out for squirrel s, they may also be inadvertently feeding the rats and raccoons that live on campus as well.
And although squirrels may appear cute and friendly, King said, it is important to remember that they are still wild animals.
“There’s been a lot of cases of people being bitten,” he said. “And they can carry diseases.”