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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | THURSDAY, DEC. 8, 2016
Yulduz Kuchkarova finds a family away from home
▶ ERIK NELSON @erikthefan
Clark Campbell, coach of the Kansas women's swimming team, had no idea what he would be getting when Yulduz Kuchkarova came to Kansas. The senior and native of Uz-
FINALS GUIDE
Mild winter may mean more KU squirrels
KANSAN.COM
A squirrel with a piebald coat perches on a limb while eating. Mild winters in recent years could mean an increase in the campus squirrel population.
CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boese
Associated Press
When junior Chloe Adams moved from the scholarship halls to Oliver Hall, she started to miss one of her favorite parts of campus: the University's squirrel population.
"They just bring a lighter side to campus life," she said. "When you come out of Malott after a tough test or whatever, and you see two squirrels eating fried chicken outside, it just makes you a little happier."
Many students, like Adams, have probably noticed the strange behavior of the squirrels on campus, as well as their unusually high population. Robert Timm, a professor of ecology at the University, said the squirrel population will likely go up in the next year.
Timm, who specializes in studying mammals such as squirrels, said squirrel populations are largely dependent on two factors: winter habitat and food availability.
If the winter is mild or squirrels have good shelter from the cold, Timm said, more will survive through the winter and mate in the springtime. On the University's campus, the animals have plenty of places to shelter, including thick trees and the attics of old buildings.
"If you're in a really good spot, like a hole in a tree or an attic of an old building — and we have a lot of older buildings here on campus — then it's easy to over-
- then it's easy to over-
winter," Timm said. "If you have a really, really severe winter, then what happens is that the squirrels that are in those leaf nests freeze to death. So we lose half the squirrel populations, if not more, just from freezing to death."
According to Weather Underground's record of Kansas City weather by month, it appears that squirrels have had ideal conditions for survival in recent years. Between December, January and February in the past five years, the average monthly temperature dipped below freezing in only five months out of 15. That's better than the five winters before that, during which nine months were below freezing.
If this year's winter is as mild as previous years'
have been, the squirrel population should go up, according to Timm. Fewer squirrels will die during the winter, and many will be able to breed earlier than normal.
"What you're going to see in late December or January, if it's a mild winter, is ... squirrels running around being crazy," he said. "Males chasing females. It might be more than one male chasing one female or males battling it out."
Food is the other big factor in squirrel survival rates, Timm said. That situation also looks promising for the campus' population of squirrels. He said this year is "just a gangbusters year" for the squirrels' main food supply, which is acorns and walnuts.
"Our squirrels are going to go into the winter nice and fat, so that's good for over winter survivorship," Timm said.
But the squirrels on campus have another big source of food, Timm said that likely accounts for the bold behavior that many students notice.
"We've got all these students, you know, sitting out and eating their lanch, and a squirrel comes up to them and begs, and they flip it a potato chip or a french fry," he said. "So we have an artificially high population of squirrels because of the food that we give them."
While feeding squirrels human food isn't necessarily bad for the rodents, Timm said it does create an "artificial environment" for the squirrels to live in that
they wouldn't have in the wild.
"We trained them to be beggars, and why shouldn't they be? We give them really tasty sunflower seeds and potato chips," he said.
Adams, a biochemistry major from Shawnee, has also noticed the difference in these squirrels' behavior. Adams said she volunteered for a wildlife rescue organization in high school, so she saw many squirrels, but the ones in Lawrence took her by surprise.
"We have squirrels in Shawnee, sure," she said. "But they're not as bold as the ones here."
Adams said she loves to watch the squirrels and take pictures of them, mostly because of their odd behavior.
"Squirrels here are like little people, whether they're running around or looking for food," she said. "Bunnies will freeze, but squirrels will just stare right at you ... Out of all the woodland creatures, squirrels rule the campus."
However, this familiarity can become inconvenient for other members of campus. University facilities services employees sometimes find squirrels living in the nooks and crannies of buildings and have to quickly patch up the holes, according to Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, the University's director of news and media relations. Squirrels can also occasionally cause issues through their interactions with people.
"When Stouffer Place Apartments existed, residents were discouraged from feeding the squirrels food scraps, because then there were problems with the animals approaching people," Barcomb-Peterson said in an email.
Other than being an inconvenience, Timm said squirrels generally won't disrupt an ecosystem if they grow or shrink in population.
Now, Adams is living in the scholarship halls again, where the high number of trees mean squirrels are a lot more frequent on her walks to class.
"Overall, the beauty of KU's campus and the nature it has is awesome ... and I think squirrels are a big part of that," she said.
This story originally appeared in the Nov. 3 University Daily Kansan.
STRX GM
ones, but certainly those are four that come to mind from a regular season standpoint."
Below is a quick rundown of those games, in the order Self mentioned them, and what he remembers about them.
NO. 9 KANSAS 76, NO.
20 WEST VIRGINIA 69
(OT)
March 3, 2015
Win No. 556
How Self remembers it:
"When we beat West Virginia a couple of years ago to win the league when Perry (Ellis) went down in the second half, that was a gusty win."
The Jayhawks celebrate their Big 12 title in March 2015 after defeating West Virginia in overtime
What happened:
On senior' night in 2015, Kansas won its 11th straight Big 12 title in overtime with a comeback win. Kansas trailed by eight points with 3:39 to play, with Perry Ellis in the locker room injured.
But then Frank Mason III and Jamari Traylor took over before overtime. Traylor's 14 points and nine boards all came in the second half and overtime, as he overcame first-half foul trouble to lead Kansas to victory late. Mason's free-throws down the stretch — he scored the team's final eight points in overtime — helped down the Mountaineers. The win avenged a loss to the Mountainers from earlier in the season, when then-No. 23 West Virginia defeated then-No. 8 Kansas.
KANSAS 59, NO. 19
OKLAHOMA 58
February 4, 2006
Win No. 269
How Self remembers it:
"We beat Oklahoma when we were down 17 with seven (minutes) and they were a top-15 team when those guys were all freshmen. I thought that was a pretty gutsy win."
What happened:
"Those guys" were Brandon Rush, Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers - two of which would go on and win a National Championship just two years later. Self remembers it a bit wrong too, though that makes sense considering it was over 10 years ago. Oklahoma was No. 19 in the nation, according to College Basketball Reference. Kansas never fell behind by more than 16, and that was with 10:22 left in the game. But with 7:51, Kansas was down 15 points - 53-38
File photo/KANSAN
- before a tremendous rally. Rush hit a three-pointer and put a fast-break layup to put Kansas within 10. A short jumper from Chalmers put Kansas on top with 20 seconds to play. Unranked Kansas didn't play its best game offensively, but held Oklahoma to 58 points on 34.8 percent shooting, had 10 steals and eight blocks.
NO.1 KANSAS 109,
NO.2 OKLAHOMA 106
(3O1)
January 4, 2016
Win No.572
How Self remembers it:
"The OU win last year was obviously big."
What happened:
This one is fresh in the mind
of Kansas fans, and it's probably one of the most competitive games ever played in Allen Fieldhouse. Perry Ellis went for 27 points and had 13 boards, Devonte' Graham went for 22 points, and Wayne Selden Jr. had 21. All of that, along with big steals late in the third overtime from Frank Mason III, helped Kansas down the No. 2 team in the country despite Buddy Hield's ridiculous 46-point day. Hield shot 23 times from the field, along with 14 free throws. As Oklahoma had a chance to win the game, Mason defended Hield as he prepared to throw the inbound at the end of the game. Instead, Mason stripped the ball away on the pass in, and hit a pair of free throws — two of his 15 points
winner and the fan support to come back and win that one."
What happened:
Self has often said this the best game he's played at Allen Fieldhouse, and for good reason. The Jayhawks trailed by 19 with 17 minutes left, but erased the deficit against the No.3 team in the country to force overtime. It was the final installment of the Border War, at least while Missouri was in the Big 12. Now, it's been cemented into Kansas basketball folklore and forever commemorated in the pre-game Allen Fieldhouse video. Thomas Robinson scored seven of the team's last nine points, then blocked Missouri's game-winning shot to force overtime the block heard around the world. Tyshawn Taylor and Robinson combined for 52 points to carry Kansas to the victory over Missouri.
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