Category Archives: Nuts About Squirrels

Olney, Illinois, has a white squirrel monument in its downtown. It conducts a squirrel parade and what is tagged as a “Squirrel Scamper” event for kids. Numerous squirrel happenings take place in the rural Illinois town with a population of 8,500 that positions itself in tourism materials as “The Home of White Squirrels.”

Marysville, Kansas, bills itself as the “Home of the Black Squirrels,” and has been promoting a special Black Squirrel Night for almost a half century. The town has named the black squirrel its official mascot and honors it with a Black Squirrels on Parade event.

Squirrels are honored with statues, parades and festivals in more than a score of Midwest cities, according to Don Corrigan, author of “Nuts About Squirrels: The Rodents That Captured Popular Culture.” Corrigan presented a lecture, “Squirrels: Icons of the Midwest,” in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October at the annual Midwest Popular Culture Conference.

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Photo by Ursula Ruhl.

Survey research by Don Corrigan released in his July 12 Webster-Kirkwood Times column, “Squirrels: Friends Or Foes?” reveals that almost 70% of survey respondents think squirrels are our friends. Of note, all these people relate to mass-mediated squirrels. They are infatuated with Rocket J. Squirrel, Rally Squirrel, Squirrel Nutkin and Surly the Squirrel from the movie, The Nut Job.

Here are some research results not covered in the column: More the 70% of respondents believe that squirrels will be thriving on our Earth long after human beings have vanished from the planet.

Climate change is causing some squirrels to give birth earlier, to migrate north, to move to different elevations in mountain areas. Should humans bear any responsibility for the disruption of the habitat for squirrels? Are squirrels better equipped than humans to deal with such disruption? Respondents were mostly undecided on these two questions.

If you would like to give your two cents on the issue of whether squirrels are our friends or our foes, please leave a comment on this post below. (At the end of this post.)

If you would like to complete a squirrel research survey, open and/or print the following attachment. You can either send your answers via email to corrigan@timesnewspapers.com or mail the completed survey form attention to Don Corrigan at 122 W. Lockwood Ave., 2nd floor, Webster Groves, Mo 63119.

Squirrel Survey2019

See the Calendar of Squirrel events for the month of July below. Squirrel research surveys will also be distributed to audiences attending the events.

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