How a college student in Texas turned her unstoppable love for squirrels into a very nutty book.

By Javier Peinado

An underclassman poses by the 2019 yearbook he and his other squirrel friends are featured in. (Squirrels of UT) — An underclassman poses by the 2019 yearbook he and his other squirrel friends are featured in. (*Squirrels of UT*)

Graduation day was near and the smell of freedom was in the air.

As seniors at the University of Texas in Austin prepared to walk across that hallowed stage and receive the diplomas they’d been working towards, Marie Romano, an alum, was preparing her own end-of-year tribute: a squirrel yearbook.

Sure, to some, the little rascals are nothing but hyper-caffeinated, glorified rats that take over entire parks and rattle dogs with their mere presence. But to others, like Romano, these creatures are special and worthy of attention.

During her years studying graphic design at UT Austin, Romano fell in love with squirrels, capturing tons of photos of their beady black eyes and fluffy tails across the school’s 40-acre campus. Squirrels of UT: The Yearbook was her way of memorializing the personable critters that she’d come to know so well.

“After graduating from UT Austin, I missed seeing the cute, halfway domesticated squirrels that I had become used to seeing and feeding while I was a student,” Romano told the Austin American-Statesman.

Certainly the album, which was released in July of this year, could hardly be more adorable. With more than 100 pages, it focuses on the larger-than-life personalities of the more than 200 squirrels that live on campus, who, like in all standard yearbooks, are divided by class year, each wearing their own Photoshopped graduation cap.

Romano named every single one of them, dubbing them with monikers like TumTum, Clyde, Rufus, and Eggo.

Extracurricular activities, like the Breadstick Club, and the Greek Tree-Houses have their own pages. So, too, do the school’s “basketnut” and “volleynut” teams, whose athletes are “very tall and have a talent for standing on two legs.” The school’s mascot is the “SQRL” and their colors are dark orange and white — the same as UT Austin’s.

Growing up in Brownsville at the southern tip of Texas, Romano didn’t always care about squirrels. It wasn’t until she began her studies in Austin that she fell in love with the many squirrels that shamelessly roam its campus.

“I remember being a little intimidated by how friendly they were during orientation, but little by little, I began to find them interesting”, Romano told OK Whatever.

“It wasn’t until a couple of months later that I became interested in their personalities and behaviors.”

Thanks to a suggestion from her boyfriend, she began carrying around a bag of shelled sunflower seeds for them, and it wasn’t long before she added a camera into the mix so that she could photograph them.

She spent so much time with the campus squirrels that she was able to distinguish one from the other, paying attention to their unique personality traits and characteristics. They weren’t merely rodents anymore to her, but rather tiny, recognizable individuals.

Consider, for example, Chairmander who (as she explained on the Squirrels of UT website) “will gladly save your spot for you while you are gone.” Or Legolas, an albino cutie who just loves to take naps. She does, however, have a favorite squirrel: Sunflower.

“She is the sweetest and perhaps prettiest mama squirrel on campus. The more I see her, the more I feel like she has become a friend. And for some odd reason, it seems like she feels the same way, too,” Romano said.

Given her friendships with the squirrels, it’s no wonder Romano managed to capture such up-close and intimate portraits of the creatures. Most of them were cooperative and loved to be on camera, even though, as Romano shamelessly admitted, a tasty bribe was usually necessary.

“Food is like payment for their picture…They will happily have it taken if you provide them with some peanuts.”

But how and when do you go from enjoying squirrels to creating, editing, and publishing a college yearbook where all the students are…well, squirrels?

Romano gave a lot of thought to the concept of a “squirrel photobook” early on and created profiles on Facebook and Instagram of her newfound friends. But ultimately her goal was to put together an album of her favorite photos and offer it for sale.

View this post on Instagram

On a new episode of Elle capturing the hearts of millions with her smile. 💛 My heart can't take it. 😭♥️ While Elle is a shy girl, a few peanuts and a compliment on her fuzzy belly will bring out that adorable smile! She was very happy today and even shared her snacks with her squirrel friends. Elle is just too good for this world. What did we do to deserve her?? 😭😭😭

A post shared by Squirrels Of UT Austin 🐿️🤘 (@squirrels.of.ut) on Oct 27, 2019 at 7:14pm PDT

“I don't know if it was in a dream or what, but the next day I knew that I had to make a yearbook,” she said. “I scratched everything and compiled everything into a yearbook for the squirrels.”

She ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project earlier this year, raising more than $6,500 and receiving 260 orders for the book.

More than an eccentric idea, Squirrels of UT: The Yearbook is a hardcover, glossy extravaganza that will undoubtedly put a silly smile on your face. Romano, at least, could not be happier.

“I wasn't sure if other people would find it interesting,” she said, “but I knew that at least someone out there would get a kick out of squirrels in regalia.”