‘Well, this is hawkward’: We spoke to the girl behind the NCSU Squirrels Twitter account
UNC likes chipmunks
In 2014, a Twitter account called was launched featuring tweets “from” our favorite furry friends, the squirrels of NC State. The @ncsu_squirrels account now has over 2,000 followers.
Typically squirrels avoid interaction with people, but NC State squirrels have adapted into dauntless little daredevils. They dive out of trees, run across busy streets without hesitation and they’re always a topic of conversation on campus.
The Twitter account first gained popularity when State played UNC in the 2014-2015 basketball season. A meme featuring the NCSU squirrel beating up on a UNC squirrel racked in over 300 retweets and 400 likes.
The mastermind behind the NCSU squirrels account prefers to remain anonymous, but she shared some inside info with us.
Where do you come up with such hilarious tweets?
I love puns so I just try to incorporate squirrel-related things into random words or phrases. I’ll sometimes think of a song and just make up something about squirrels. Usually I think of funny tweets at night when I’m half-asleep and not thinking about it too hard, so I just write it as a draft for later.
What’s your favorite thing to tweet?
I think my favorite recent one is “that squirrel is a real crowd pleaser.” Usually these tweets are the most popular ones because almost everyone has heard the song before and understands my joke. It’s awkward when I think something is hilarious and everyone else is like “uhh wut…?”
If you weren’t a squirrel, what would you be?
Probably a dog – everyone loves dogs. I chose squirrels because they’re the most relevant to NC State’s campus.
What was your goal when you made this account?
I just want to be able to make people laugh. I honestly don’t even think half of the stuff I tweet is all that funny – it’s just funny because it’s from a squirrel.
Will you keep it going once you graduate or pass it on?
I will hopefully pass it on. If anyone’s interested feel free to hit up the squirrels’ DMs.
Check out @ncsu_squirrels to keep up with their nutty tweets.