Relaxing rodents: Guinea pigs help Grenfell students with exam stress

With university exam season now in full swing, librarians at Memorial University's Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook are using small furry animals to help students de-stress.

A pair of guinea pigs were at the Ferris Hodgett Library at Grenfell, where students could spend some time petting or feeding the small critters, in hopes of taking away some end of semester worries. 

West Coast Morning4:33Meet the Grenfell guinea pigs, helping to calm exam-stressed students.

Grenfell Campus is betting that petting guinea pigs can help students through the stress of studying. Gary Moore saw two of the cuddly rodents, which were at the campus library as part of a student wellness initiative.

Crystal Rose, the public services librarian at Grenfell, said they were inspired to try out the guinea pigs after having previous success with dogs.

"They loved the dogs, but said they would like to have other kinds of animals," she said.

"They're a good choice because they're very social animals, they love being with other guinea pigs."

The two creatures, which are two of four guinea pigs owned by one of the librarians, are named Ferris and Hodge, after the library itself.

Rose said the reaction from the students has been one of excitement.

"The first semester, it was like The Beatles," she said.

"The students were so excited and they love having them here. They squeal, the cell phones were coming out, they were taking pictures and they just thought they were so fun."

Kirsten McCaffrey, a student at Grenfell, said spending some time with the guinea pigs helped take her mind off the end of semester anxieties. 

"They're very relaxing, they're fuzzy, they're cool to play with," she said.

"It's usually pretty plain in here ... pretty stressful. But if you see some animals it helps out."

Click the audio above, to hear Gary Moore's interview live from the guinea-pig pen at the Grenfell library.