UPDATED: Houston's Lucky White-Tailed Squirrel To Be Stuffed, Memorialized

Updated on March 23: He was some squirrel.

The messages and displays of grief continue unabated on the University of Houston campus as students and faculty members remember the Lucky White-Tailed Squirrel, who buried his last acorn on Monday.

The rodent, who was celebrated as a good-luck charm, will be stuffed and displayed on the campus in a memorial, thanks to a GoFundMe campaign established by a UH student.

"It really says something that right after he died, 50 people shared pictures and videos they had of him," Robert Comer, a student and resident adviser, told the Houston Chronicle. "I once had a resident come to me and tell me he had a great weekend because he saw the White-Tailed Squirrel."

Comer set up the GoFundMe campaign, named Preserve the White Tailed Squirrel, in response to student demands for the erection of a permeant memorial for the animal. On Thursday afternoon, the campaign had taken in $665, and donations are coming from around the nation. Samantha Shipley, for example, sent $5 and wrote, "I don't go to school there, I don't even live in Texas but I appreciate the love being shown for this little creature. I know it isn't much, but I am happy to contribute."

The fund had originally set a goal of $550, but that was met in full on Wednesday with a donation of that amount from an anonymous UH student.

"The taxidermist who will be preserving the squirrel will be Taxidermy The Best," Comer write on the campaign's page. "The base price is $375, but we asked for a rushed order that will ensure the squirrel is done before finals and graduation. The rushed order increased the price to $475. After tax, this comes out to around $515. We aren't sure where the white tailed squirrel will live after being preserved, but we'll figure that out somewhere further down the road. We strongly encourage you to donate what you can to this cause. The money raised will go towards ensuring future students will get to experience the wonderful white-tailed squirrel just like we have."

Meanwhile, on the tree-rich campus, students have set up their own makeshift memorial. It's under an ash tree, and is composed of, among other items, a discarded computer keyboard, a Novena candles bearing the likeness of Jesus Christ, empty beer bottles, and a framed photo of the beloved rodent. It will have to suffice until the official memorial is constructed.

And who knows, perhaps one of the animals scampering nearby is the offspring of the dearly departed. It appears The Lucky White-Tailed Squirrel left a lasting legacy indeed.

HOUSTON, TX — A university is in mourning today, but a movement to hire the services of a taxidermist could result in the dearly departed being permanently displayed on campus, a memorial to a creature who many believed brought good luck to students for years.

The white-tailed squirrel was found dead on Monday in front of the University of Houston's Butler plaza. Officials say the cause of his death was unknown.

“He was a symbol of hope and love before your midterms,” mechanical engineering junior Melissa Ng told The Cougar, the university's student-run newspaper. “He’s been here for as long as I have.”

The university announced the death of the beloved squirrel via Twitter:

Legend has it that any student who happened to see the busy squirrel right before an exam would be granted good luck. The animal's age was unknown.

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Student Lillie Cao was perhaps the first person to report the white-tailed squirrel's death; she posted on her Facebook page that she had seen him lying on the ground around noon on Monday.

Evelyn Hidalgo, a marketing sophomore at the university, paid a visit to the spot on which the squirrel was found dead to pay her respects.

“I was so excited to see him before my tests,” Hidalgo told the Cougar. “He was legendary.”

Perhaps its time for the University of Houston to drop its Cougar mascot and nickname: Go White-Tailed Squirrels? It's definitely not a nutty idea.

— Image courtesy the University of Houston