Emily Ambery | Staff Writer
09/17/2020
The Duquesne community is filled with wonderful things to see and people to meet, but here on campus students may encounter a new type of friend: a squirrel. Fortunately, Duquesne students have access to all the fun things these small animals do on the @Duqsquirrels page on Instagram.
Duqsquirrels is an account run by Nina Dorfner and Jordan Hoydick, two Duquesne students who are dedicated to gathering pictures and videos of our furry friends on campus.
The account is a Duquesne favorite with over 1,000 followers and an average of 400 likes on each post. Duqsquirrels started in March 2018 and has been consistently active since.
“We noticed how friendly the squirrels were on campus compared to other areas of Pittsburgh. We also love animals and thought the Duqsquirrels deserved a spotlight,” Dorfner said.
At the beginning of Duqsquirrels’ creation, most of the pictures were taken by the creators and their friends, but as the popularity of the account slowly grew, they began to receive and post submissions from followers.
“We’re always looking for the squirrels on our way to class,” Hoydick said.
Students are encouraged to look out for any tiny Duquesne companions and snap a picture. Submissions to Duqsquirrels are welcomed and encouraged.
To the surprise of the creators, the account has taken off since 2018.
“Honestly, we never expected that many people to follow us,” Dorfner and Hoydick said.
Duquesne students love seeing the squirrels outside and on Instagram. Dorfner and Hoydick’s favorite thing about running the account is “to be walking around campus and hear people talking about the squirrels or our account.”
The account usually receives four to five pictures a week.
Not only does the account feature fun pictures and videos of the squirrels, it also has funny captions to describe each picture of the squirrels. The captions often relate to typical college student struggles, such as taking midterms, finals, going to class and consuming copious amounts of Chick-fil-A. The creators are tasked with coming up with the captions, but they are always open to accepting captions submitted by followers.
The page is a fun and unique break from the exhausting daily life of college. Dorfner and Hoydick are working hard to capture funny moments from the squirrels, and love all the submissions they get from their followers.
One of their favorite aspects of running Duqsquirrels is “receiving submissions from students because we’ve gotten really cool and crazy photos and videos that we never could have taken ourselves,” they said.
Dorfner and Hoydick are excited for the submissions they will get this coming year, and fans of the account are equally excited to see the new posts.
To submit posts, message @Duqsquirrels on Instagram.
