Colorado State University Has a ‘Fattest Squirrel’ Contest And It’s Wonderful
What could be more adorable than a fat bear than a chubby squirrel? Colorado State University has a contest every year to find the fattest squirrel around the campus in Fort Collins as well as the Mountain Campus outside of town.
What Department at CSU Searches for the 'Fattest Squirrel' Every Year?
The Warner College of Natural Resources at CSU takes all things 'nature-related' very seriously, as they should. But you have to have some fun now and then, right? Each year for several years now, the college has been finding the "Fattest Squirrel" with a weeklong bracket, where people vote on their favorite.
Students, as well as Warner College staff and faculty, are encouraged to be on the lookout for fat squirrels, take their photos (from a safe distance), and then submit them. Then, the field is narrowed to eight fatties unknowingly vying to be voted the #1 'Fattest Squirrel' for the year. The CSU Mountain Campus gets involved as well; I bet the Mountain Campus sees a lot of fat squirrels.
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This is a contest that I, myself, would love to be able to get in on: Searching for fat squirrels and snapping a photo sounds like a great way to kill a weekend. Alas, I am not eligible. I wonder how many submissions they get each year? It has to be near 100.
For the 2026 contest, they let people submit possible names for the nominated squirrels; here are the eight that made it:
- Plumpkin.
- Vacuum.
- Lil Nas X.
- Stripes McGee.
- Honey Nut Cheerio.
- Baja Blast.
- Sandy Cheeks.
- Horchata.
In their promotion for the contest, you'll find a photo of the 2025 winner, "709".