Fat Squirrel Week

Each year, as fall morphs into winter, a large swath of Earth’s animals prepares to survive the cold, lean months by plumping up as much as they can. In recent times, Katmai National Park has captured the imaginations of nature lovers worldwide by giving us a peek into the process of getting fat for their resident grizzlies via Fat Bear Week. The public can vote on which ursine gorged the best for hibernation, culminating with a yearly champion.

These brown behemoths are now an annual part of autumn, but bears are not the only critter that tries to get big before winter hits.

In 2025, Texas Parks and Wildlife decided to spread the love to squirrels. Yes, now we have Fat Squirrel Week.

You might immediately object with the statement that squirrels don’t hibernate like bears. The adorable rodents that rule the trees do not, indeed, go to sleep during the winter months. However, squirrels are an incredibly diverse family. We have the aforementioned tree squirrels, but also flying squirrels and ground squirrels.

Some members of the latter group do hibernate. Ground squirrels, like the grizzlies of Katmai, need to get big before they take extended naps.

Furthermore, just because a species doesn’t hibernate doesn’t mean it might not need to stock up for the winter. Squirrels are the prototypical cold-weather planners. They gather nuts as they drop from autumn trees, storing them in personal warehouses. These pantries help keep squirrels going during the months when local flora cannot produce much food to sustain them.

A quick aside before we investigate the sciurine battle royale. The etymology of squirrel is fascinating. It derives from the Anglo-Norman word esquirel, which humorously includes the word “esquire,” though the two do not share an etymological origin tree. Esquirel arrived from an Old French word that was born from Latin’s sciurus (which lent its name to the scientific family, Sciuridae, the genus Sciurus, and the collateral adjective in this paragraph’s first sentence), which came from the Ancient Greek words skiouros and ουρα. These terms literally mean “shade tail.” Perfection! (double aside: esquire comes from words that mean “shield bearer”)

The contenders all live in state parks across Texas.

Some of the squirrels developed fantastic names, while others were less inspiring.

Nutella. Phinn the Phat. Bingus. Loki. Chunk Norris. Nut-meg. Big Red. Twiggy Swift. Mama Maple. Chunkosaurus Rex. Nutty Crocket. Scrappy. Stanley the Texas Tank. Daryl.

Less polished than Fat Bear Week, the squirrel version relied on social media for voting, as the public could lend support to a photograph of the different rodents.

Did Daryl ever really have a chance? Thankfully, mass mattered more than naming creativity. Big Red, while not the most inspired moniker, at least made sense:

As the competition progressed, two titans distanced themselves from the pack.

The final round pitted Chunkosaurus Rex against Chunk Norris. Based on the names, a worthy battle.

Chuck Norris is legendary for being able to tackle some mighty foes, but, after the acorns settled, Chunk Norris could not outlast the terrible, kingly power of Chunkosaurus Rex.

The inaugural champion of Fat Squirrel Week was Dinosaur Valley State Park’s C. Rex!

Will Fat Squirrel Week attain the cachet of Fat Bear Week?

Will Chunkosaurus Rex defend the title in the second edition of the competition?

Only 2026 can answer these questions. As winter approaches, however, we can toast the champion with champagne that features nutty undertones. Long live King Chunk!