The Squirrel Whisperer of Penn State University

Photo: Sneezy the Penn State Squirrel/Facebook

Photos of Sneezy – the most famous of Krupa’s furry friends – holding a leak rake, opening a treasure chest full of acorns or holding a “Go Penn State” sign have become viral over the years, getting thousands of Facebook likes and making the 22-year-old one of the most popular students on campus. But it wasn’t always like this. Growing up in a neighborhood outside State College, Mary was always fond of birds and animals around her home, but she didn’t interact with people very much. She was later diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a milder form of autism, and remembers that she was an anti-social, awkward loner in high-school. But the squirrels changed that.

“The squirrel’s actually a good way to break the ice, because I’ll be sitting here patting a squirrel and other people will come over and we’ll just start like feeding the squirrels together and chatting about them,” she told The Associated Press. “I am a lot more outgoing.”

Photo: Sneezy the Penn State Squirrel/Facebook

And in case you’re wondering how Mary is able to get the squirrels to do what she want for her photos, it has a lot to do with food. For example, whenever she wants Sneezy to hold or play with something, she smears a dollop of peanut butter on the prop, and he’ll grab it. “It’s kind of a give and take. They’re not going to play with me unless I have food to give them,” she told Onward State, four years ago. But getting to that part took a while. In the beginning, she would throw peanuts up the trees on campus and invite the squirrels to come down and get them, but they hesitated to approach her. She had the patience to earn their trust, though, and now many of them run to her like tiny dogs expecting a treat.