in honor of NATIONAL SQUIRREL DAY ….

In honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day we had to give the famous Princeton black squirrels a shout out!  Clearly the tiger is the official mascot of the school but most would agree the black squirrels of Princeton come in first as the most beloved unofficial representative of the ivy league powerhouse!

Did you know the orange and black squirrels are rumored to have been imported by a Princeton tiger?  TRUE! 

His name was Moses Taylor Pyne!   Old timers say he wanted the entire campus to run orange and black so he imported orange and black squirrels to Princeton!  

(there are other crazier rumors claiming the Princeton black squirrels were a failed science experiment being held in a lab on campus …. but we’re big fans of love stories so we’re going with the rumor that a smitten tiger just had to import orange and black squirrels to his favorite campus!) 

Fancy societies in Princeton will claim that the precious Princeton  black squirrels were not imported by Princeton alum Moses Taylor Pyne but we beg to differ!  Moses was a wild fan of his alma mater, rumored to have gifted more than any other tiger.  Upon graduation, he was also made an immediate Trustee and never missed a meeting!  (That’s A LOT of meetings over a lifetime!) 

If you do a hot Google search on Moses, you’ll learn that he imported swans, monkeys, peacocks and all sorts of exotic species to his mansion in Princeton!  His garden was designed to show off his spectacular collection as described in F Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise!  There’s just NO WAY he didn’t get his buddies in the Netherlands to send him a collection of orange and black squirrels to frolic on his beloved campus….. either way, we’re convinced he’d love the fact that they are there!)

Be sure to call Triumph Brewing Company and see if their dark ale, called the Black Squirrel, is on tap!  If you’re planning to visit, reach out to us and we’ll share a pint with you and make you a believer in no time!