It’s not often you hear someone on campus say, “Don’t let the duck get away.”

That was a bit of a concern as a duck was passed from student to student. And so was a rabbit. And a guinea pig. Each animal was gently stroked and cuddled by the students. And that was the point.

Just days away from finals week, the petting zoo outside the Rossi Student Center was a stress reliever sponsored by Psi Lambda Delta that also included goats, a lamb and amiable old dog named Ruger.

Dizayuh Hinton, the president of Psi Lambda Delta, which includes many psychology majors, said the organization had first considered a bouncy house, but thought the Twin Farms Mobile Petty Zoo from Lexington would be more relaxing and better fit into their purpose of providing for good mental health.

“We feel the students just needed to relax and get the stress out … people are holding animals and honestly, this is a great sight to see,” Hinton said.

Stroking a guinea pig for the first time in her life was freshman Trinity Gregory who giggled as she described the hairy brown critter in her arms as "fluffy,” and was “pretty sure” the stress of finals was instantly diminishing.

Meanwhile, senior Ingrid Ferrari from Brazil was passing along the rabbit to a fellow student.   

I have literally petted every single animal and carried all of them — but not the pig. I did not carry the pig,” Ferrari said with a laugh. “The days before finals are just so stressful. It’s just great to pet some animals and get some stress out,” she added.

Check out TikTok for a video of the petting zoo. 

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