Meet UMass’ own ‘Squirrel Lady’
She’s been feeding them for 16 years
While strolling through campus, I was stopped in my tracks after witnessing something rather odd.
In front of The People’s Market, there was an older woman feeding a squirrel peanuts from a big green bag.
And so I stopped to talk to her and asked her how she was able to get the squirrels so close to her. I knew squirrels liked to run around near people here at UMass but I hadn’t seen any get that close to humans before.
Meet my new best friend Boomerang
According to “The Squirrel Lady,” as UMass students call her, Boomerang used to be the runt of the litter, who would get chased by the other stronger squirrels, but now he is the one chasing them around.
She has been feeding the squirrels for over 16 years.
It all started when she found a squirrel who was stuck on the steps in front of People’s Market. She began to talk to the squirrel to calm him down, and eventually, as she started to talk to the squirrels more, she gained their trust and was able to literally have the squirrels eating out of the palm of her hand.
She sounds and looks like our own modern-day, aged, Snow White.
But squirrels aren’t the only thing that she feeds. She said that she once had a chipmunk that would jump on her back and climb into her hand. And she also feeds the song sparrows, the bluejays, the cardinals and even two ducks named Heckle and Jeckle.
But who is Squirrel Lady? And why does she continue to feed the squirrels several times a week?
Squirrel Lady is one of UMass’s faculty members.
Sue, her given name, works in the department of communications as the main office secretary receptionist. And in addition to her love of communications, she loves feeding the squirrels.
“I have been able to feed the squirrels generation after generation. Boomerang just had two litters of babies.”
It’s a mystery how she keeps track of them all and can tell them apart. But her love for small animals doesn’t stop when she enters a building. In her office she has tiny animal figurines along with images of squirrels, and inside her house she even has a three foot tall mouse statue: now how’s that for “small” animal love?
But now not only can I make new friends with the squirrels and feed them their favorite treat of pecans or peanuts, I can even get some extra help with my communications grade.