London Black Squirrels Take Over Kent State University

C O N T A C T U S

Victoria-Park.com
The Forest City Of
Black Squirrels

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London Black Squirrels
Take Over Kent State University™
(Ohio , USA)

Imported Rodents Become Local Icons

In February 1961, Larry Wooddell, the superintendent of KSU's™ 500 acres, and Biff Staples, a Davey Tree expert, ventured to Ontario, Canada to obtain 10 cages with black squirrels. Both men worked with the Canadian Wildlife Service and American and Canadian Customs for permission to move the squirrels.
A second trip was made in early March in 1961 to a London, Ontario Park to obtain more squirrels.
By 1964, the Kent Record-Courier observed that there were up to 150 squirrels in the area.
When first released, the large, black-spiked squirrels were frequently mistaken for skunks.
No similar concentrations existed in the central and eastern parts of Ohio prior to 1961. This was changed when Larry Wooddel & Biff Staples brought back the London Ontario black squirrels.
Today they own the campus and the squirrels have been spotted in places such as: Warren, Cleveland, Barberton, Akron, and Canton.
Russell Foldessy, Superintendent of KSU™ grounds, says "They don't hurt anything, in fact the rabbits and chipmunks are harder on plants and in making holes in the ground."

An annual Black Squirrel Festival is held each fall at KSU™ featuring performers, black squirrel photo and drawing contests, an organizations fair, crafts displays, and a 4.2 mile Black Squirrel Run.

London, Ontario is known as the
" Forest City" and
Kent, Ohio is known as the "Tree City"

Logo used with permission from
Artist: Kenneth McGregor
www.artarmory.com

Black Squirrel Links
Kent State University™ & Kent Ohio

In 1961 ten Black Squirrels from London were exported to Kent State University

An annual Black Squirrel Festival is held each fall at KSU™ featuring performers, Black Squirrel photo and drawing contests, a fair, craft displays, and a 4.2 mile Black Squirrel Run

London's connection to the Black Squirrels of KSU™ have even inspired a song, the Black Squirrels Of London

Kent Ohio could be named the sister city of London, Ontario

London, Ontario is known as the " Forest City" and Kent, Ohio is known as the "Tree City." We share the same squirrels and a similar motto!

A brief history of the black squirrel at Kent State University™

Imported Rodents Become Local Icons

In Kent they are going wild over our squirrels. There is a Black Squirrel Pub, Annual Black Squirrel Festival, Black Squirrel Music Inc, Black Squirrel Gallery, Black Squirrel Radio Station, Black Squirrel Woodworking, Black Squirrel Books, the Black Squirrel Classic race, and even the Kent State campus police have adopted the black squirrel as their safety symbol. The list goes on and on!

Please view the road trip to Kent, Ohio and KSU™ by Victoria-Park.com creator Ric Wallace:

Kent , Ohio KSU™ Grounds

Kent State University™, Kent State™ and KSU™ are registered trademarks of Kent State University

Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 12:08:19 -0400
From: Jim Watson <jwatson1@kent.edu>
Subject: Victoria Park website
Cc: wwalker@kent.edu

Ric,

Kent State University has no objection to the concept of your website.
There are some trademark issues that we need to sort out, which may require
adjustments in some of the references on the site and perhaps a license
agreement. I will be back in touch with you early next week regarding those
concerns.

Jim

James R. Watson
Associate University Counsel and
Special Assistant to the President for Athletics
Office of University Counsel
Kent State University
Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242