With the beginning of football season, Mike is ready to roar louder than ever. Especially if that means scaring away LSU’s opponents in Death Valley.
LSU students take pride in their mascot attending games and showing his own tiger pride.
On most days, Mike can be found in his recently renovated habitat outside of LSU’s Stadium. Tiger fans from around the state and country gather around to glimpse the legendary LSU Tiger.
On game days, if fans are lucky, Mike can be found in Death Valley making the crowds go wild as he is driven around the stadium. And, so far, Mike’s attendance record at home football games is stellar.
Ginger Guttner, Director of Public Relations of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, explains that Mike attends the games about 74 percent of the time, but he is never forced.
On game days, Mike’s handler keeps him in the back of the habitat. Here, his trailer is connected to his room. Mike has a two hours window in which he can enter his trailer and join Tiger Fans for the game.
Guttner explains that sometimes Mike will go right into his trailer, but other times he will walk in and out until the very last minute.
If Mike gets into his trailer, he is driven to the entrance of the visitor locker room, so that the opposing team has to run by him to get on the field.
Many students speculate that Mike knows to come out for the big games, but Guttner says “I’m not sure if he knows if one game is more important than another.”
In response, Kaitlin Schuette, an LSU Freshman, says, “But we know Mike knows.”
Whether or not student speculations are true, all agree that LSU is lucky to be the only university in the United States to have a live tiger on campus.
Mike gave the LSU football team four paws up after their big win over Sam Houston Saturday. Though he did not grace the stadium with his presence for that game, his constant presence on campus gives Tigers, young and old, something to be proud about.