Squirrels at IU
Description of the video:
The video starts with images of students walking across campus. Then close ups of squirrels hopping around near an outdoor dining area.
Narrator: Indiana University is home to the Hoosiers but seem to have a new rival in town. Are they friends or are they foes?
Interview with IU student Domonic Solomito.
Domonic: My name is Dominic Solomito, I am a rising senior at IU and I’m also a counselor here.
Squirrels lounging on the brick sidewalk on campus.
Domonic: I’m not against the squirrels… I think they add a lot to campus. The experience wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have squirrels that would walk up to us, and we could feed them, and they would crawl around on us.
Student kneeling down to offer a squirrel food from her hand. Then another squirrel approaches.
Domonic: I think they’re just an important part of the IU experience. They’re part of nature and I think we should take care of nature wherever we can.
Interview with an IU professor sitting on a bench in the woods on campus. Birds chirping in the background.
Professor: Well, I mean they’re part of the natural environment here. Not many campuses have woods like we do. Other animals… we’ve seen skunks; also sometimes even deer. But some students, I notice, who grew up in an area that didn’t have squirrels that visible. I’ve heard that some students even have given names and to the squirrels, and then the squirrel recognizes that person. They walk down the sidewalks here and the squirrel comes out and waiting for something to eat. So, you know, it’s a very unique part of the campus and I guess it’s just part of what it is when you have a forest.
Images of more squirrels and students interacting with squirrels.
Narrator: Students here on campus have been going nuts about the squirrels and even have an Instagram account dedicated to posting about their experiences. This craze has been taking storm all over Bloomington.
Screenshots of the squirrels_at_iu Instagram page showing various pictures and videos that have been shared by the account.
Interview with IU student Harrison Levi.
Harrison: Honestly, they’re kind of fun when you’re just walking through campus and they just run right in front of you and they’re just not caring — they’re so used to people by now because people are just constantly feeding them food when they’re walking by. And then also, going into the fall, they’re constantly seen running around — especially up in like the trees — and then also like the end of second semester — like the spring around like April to May they’ll come back out and start just chasing after you if you’re not too careful!
Indiana University is the home of the Hoosiers, but they seem to have a new rival in town. Are they friends or are they foes? This documentary film was produced and edited by Nicholas VanBibber.