Walking up to the high school from the Goss parking lot can be a very nature filled event. Most everyone can enjoy a squirrel happily jumping around, eating acorns and leftover ring-dings left in trash cans. The geese always serve to entertain, and scare, as they authoritatively walk by the pond with their little goslings following close behind. The ducks never cease to evoke a cute and cuddly side in all of us. Wildlife seems to have rooted itself in our lives at Chase.

Classes will take little breaks to watch through a window as the squirrels fight and mate with others. People will smuggle tiny bits of food out of the dining room to feed the ducks, who will now come fearlessly as close as spear length, and with a little more caution, close enough to touch. And even though we are surrounded by all of this life, we are also surrounded by vicious, insane, and weird beings.

By far the weirdest of all the living things now spotted at Chase is the black squirrel. Amongst so many grey, somewhat normal squirrels, black squirrel stands out like no other. Although black squirrel is a rare sight on the campus, he strikes wonderment into the eyes of those that do get the opportunity to come across the little guy. He has recently been seen foraging through the woods near the Goss, and perching on trees near the pond. As an accompaniment to the black squirrel, the “squirrel with no tail” has been added to the population quite recently, although he is a little less rare to spot than old blacky.

The newest member of the wild community is baby turtle. The new turtle is slightly smaller than the size of a hockey puck, but what it lacks in size it makes up in oddity. The other two turtles in the pond are common box turtles, whereas the baby turtle is a species of colored slider, completely foreign to waters. So far only one baby turtle has been spotted.

Last year the school was surprised to be visited by “friendly crow.” This crow was daring enough to come crowing up to a student walking from lunch with a corn dog. After swooping past this student’s head the crow landed in front of the student, blocking his path; it then proceeded to make crow calls until the student was forced to sacrifice a bite of corndog to friendly crow. Friendly crow has not been spotted since, but for all we know he may be here among us.

The groundhog or woodchuck (debate as to the true identity has been waging) lives under the trailer at the Goss and can sometimes be seen crossing the Goss parking lot. Last year the same creature suffered from a broken leg and could be approached within touching distance. Now, the creature’s leg has healed and he is just as elusive as ever. Keep your eyes out for this one.

The ducks fit in to all categories. They are cute, vicious and weird. Their habits can be terrifying and at the same time, adorable. They can be seen cuddling together with their heads tucked behind their wings. They can be seen together raping one of the helpless black ducks, unable to waddle fast enough to escape. Recently a black duck’s wings have basically been torn apart.

They can be seen pecking at food and playful splashing and washing in the water. They can be seen killing their own kind. Sadly, one of the ducks was beaten and left in the cold without friends. This duck lost his life from either the cold or a broken heart. Even weirder than this, the ducks have been laying eggs only to abandon them or kick them into the pond.

It’s obvious: we can’t help being entertained by all the animals around us. Underclassmen get yelled at for going outside during conference without permission, but how can they be blamed, with all this wildlife to be observed and discovered? More species will soon be added to our ecosystem, as rumors indicate that some students may be transporting wildlife from other ponds in the area to our very own pond. Stay tuned for more animal updates, and if you spot something new on your own feel free to email us.