Over my first few weeks at Wes I’ve had some pretty wild encounters with some captivating, deceiving creatures. How did I get myself into this? Well, it all started with a small, innocent baby rabbit staring at me with the most innocent gaze — “wow,” I said out loud, “Wes is wild” (*scares rabbit away*). Little did I know that the whole force of nature would prove to me that we are, in fact, not alone in this campus.
Over the next few days, I had encounters with tarantula-size spiders in my bed, a group of around 15 bees (not very happy with my presence), a very sketchy rat and a partially bald black squirrel. Oh, and, by the way, I was also chased by a skunk up to Olin.
I found some comfort, however, in knowing that I am not alone in this situation. For instance, out of nowhere, I heard somebody screaming down my hall, and when I arrived, the girl, whose name is to remain undisclosed, said: “You don’t understand! The moth came AT ME!” She then continued by describing the moth’s intentionality in “attacking” her.
Later that week I started to hear more stories from several people who had similar or worse experiences of this nature, like ending up in the hospital after a baby squirrel imprinted on them (don’t ask how). After hearing all those stories, I just feel better. I have no idea of what my next encounters with the wild are going to be like, but at least I know that animals are not conspiring against me, or, at least, not exclusively.
If you have any stories of encounters with wild animals at Wes, tell us at staff[at]wesleying[dot]org or our tipbox!