The four and a half hour ride to Olney was gingerly spiced up by the witty remarks and conversation from our bus driver. He even subjected us to squirrel jokes. Fancy that!
As we rode into town, the white squirrel sightings started. "Oh! I see one on that tree!" or "There's one in that yard over there!" could be heard now and then on the bus. Some of the sightings were real and some turned out to be white squirrel statues in people's yards or on their porches or trees.
Upon our arrival, we first stopped for something to eat and then checked into our respective motels. Our next stop was Olney Central College to meet with Prof. John Stencel, the college's biology professor and Olney's local squirrel expert. Prof. Stencel heads up the annual white squirrel count in Olney, which is actually done by the students and some of the staff of the college.
The count is done on the last three Saturdays of October every year. We were there for the third and last of these. It starts at 7:30 AM and takes two to three hours each of those days.
The students are paired up and each pair is given a map of a particular section of town. As they walk up and down the sidewalks of these sections, they note with symbols on the map the location of every white squirrel they see on their route. They also note the location of every gray squirrel, every squirrel nest (drey), every man-made squirrel nesting box, every squirrel feeder and every squirrel-accessible bird feeder, using different symbols for each.
The purpose of the count is not to try to determine the exact number of white squirrels in town; but, rather, to establish trends. Is the white squirrel population increasing, decreasing or remaining the same? Also important is the ratio of gray squirrels to white squirrels, as this affects the nature of the gene pool among the squirrels.
In our meeting with Prof. Stencel, it was determined that the following morning Kathy (my wife) and I should meet a staff member named Karen, and the rest of the club should meet the students at City Park. The idea was that we would each get matched up with somebody to participate in the count.
After the meeting, we paid a visit to the Olney Chamber of Commerce. They had lots of white squirrels souvenirs there, including pictures, post cards, coins, lapel pins, key chains, miniature statues and more. Our members had a field day buying stuff there.
That evening most of us attended a dinner/play at the college. The play was a southern comedy put on by a local theatrical group and was absolutely hilarious. In keeping with the southern flavor of the play, the dinner was all southern style cooking consisting of southern smoked ham and green beans, cheese grits and corn bread. Mighty fine eatin'!
Saturday morning found us up early and ready for the white squirrel count. A little after 7 AM the bus took most of the group to City Park to get paired up with students, leaving Kathy and I behind to meet with Karen, the college staff member we were assigned to.
Kathy and I walked in the rain with Karen on her route from about 7:30 to almost 10:30. (As soon as we finished the route, the sun came out). Karen and I looked for the squirrels, nests, etc. while Kathy noted them down on the map. Though we saw several gray squirrels on the route, we only saw one white squirrel.
When we were through, Karen drove us to the college where we were to get back together with the rest of our group. On the way to the college, we had Karen make a stop at City Park so I could try to feed some white squirrels. At City Park, we saw several white squirrels. While I was squatting down offering a nut to a rather hesitant one, Kathy said, "There's one behind you!" As I turned around to look, a white squirrel ran up from behind me, grabbed my hand and took the nut. He ate about half of it sitting right in front of me, then ran off a few feet to bury the other half.
When he returned, he jumped up on my knee, took another nut from me and sat on my knee and ate it. Within a few minutes, he was on my chest, my shoulders and just climbing all over me. I got the impression he was an old timer that had learned how to work the people. Anyway, it was a great encounter.
Over the past few year, the counts have shown a steady decrease in the white squirrel population. I've heard two different theories about this. Some people feel that this means that the total number of white squirrels in the area is declining. Others think that the white squirrel population is staying about the same or maybe even increasing, but that they are straying farther out into the countryside; and, since it is only conducted within the city limits of Olney, the count has only been indicating a decrease in the concentration of white squirrels in Olney proper and not a decrease in the total population.
The 1996 count, however, showed a significant increase in the white squirrel population for the first time in several years. This is encouraging to many people and, although it seems to be interpreted differently by different people, it is certainly a positive rather than a negative sign.
As we were preparing to leave for home, Prof. Stencel came to the bus with a going-away present for us. It was a box containing enough miniature white squirrel statues for all of us.
One footnote to this story: Since our trip to Olney, both Prof. John Stencel and the City of Olney have joined The Squirrel Lover's Club.
Gregg Bassett
Editor and President
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