Scurry, eat, bury, repeat.
    Life seems more simplistic for squirrels. Lucky for K-State students, we get to witness them on a daily basis because of the over-population on our campus.
    According to gottshall.com/squirrels/campsq.htm, a Web site that ranks most major college campuses across the U.S. and Canada on their squirrel population, K-State is one of only seven schools ranked as a five-out-of-five-squirrel school.
    Universities with a five-squirrel ranking are said to have the best squirrel population on campus.
    The ranks are based on the size, health and behaviors of the squirrel population.
    Some of the other five-squirrel ranked schools are U.C. Berkeley, Mary Baldwin College in Virginia, the United States Naval Academy in Maryland, Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, Ursinus College in Pennsylvania and Rice University in Texas.
    It is no secret that K-State squirrels are friendly toward students and faculty. They sometimes walk beside people on the sidewalks, use backpacks as launch pads when jumping from a tree or even run up to take a bite of sandwiches offered by students eating lunch.
    Other Midwest schools were either not mentioned on the squirrel-population list, or didn’t rank as high in quality of squirrels as K-State did.
    Emporia State University has a four-squirrel rank. The red common squirrel (fox squirrel) is the most popular for both K-State and Emporia State. Occasionally, a grey squirrel will make our universities their home, but grey squirrels tend to be more prominent in Missouri.
    The squirrel-population list makes no mention of the University of Kansas, however the list was made by people sending in suggestions of a rank they would like for their respective schools.
    As for other Midwest schools, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Wayne State College in Nebraska and the University of Iowa have a four-squirrel rating.
    Kent State in Ohio, the University of Colorado at Denver and the University of Oklahoma all have a three-squirrel rating.
    Colorado School of Mines is the only Midwest school on the list with an unfriendly, two-squirrel rating.
    While most schools only acknowledge their squirrel populations, others embrace it. Wayne State has a squirrel incorporated into their logo for the student radio station and the slogan says “Where squirrels come to rock.”
    Mary Baldwin College’s mascot is the squirrel, and it is one of the symbols used on their school crest.
    In the end, our bushy-tailed friends deserve a shout-out, and maybe a piece of pizza or some Coldstone Creamery ice cream from time to time. So be on the lookout as cooler weather approaches, because squirrels will be out in full force.