 | I visited Occidental College here in LA on Saturday, Sept 27, 1997. I'd never been there
before. It is a small liberal arts college, founded in 1887. However, the present campus is not that old, since the college was originally located in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. It has a good-sized squirrel population due to the number of mature oak
trees around. This one at left could easily be older than this campus, which was established around 1910. I was there early in the morning, having gotten off work around 4 a.m., and brought some peanuts (roasted, non-salted) with me. No filberts in the store, unfortunately. |
 | The squirrels had no interest in getting food from me or approaching me at all. This was because the oak trees are all producing acorns now, and mother nature is giving them her yearly big food handout! The squirrels seldom even came down to the ground, preferring to eat the acorns still attached to the tree. This critter at left, who is perhaps 15 feet off the ground, is looking at me like I'm crazy, sneaking up with my camera and a bag of peanuts. |
 | You could hear lots of them above, rummaging through the leaves and branches to pick the acorns and eat them. You could see little bits of leaves and partially eaten acorns raining down, and you could in the background hear the squirrels nibbling. The campus was very quiet, since it was about 7 am. The only real noise was from some athletic practice at the other end of campus. |
