Threats of rain may have discouraged some Tiger fans from attending Saturday’s game, but it wasn’t enough to keep the tiger himself away.
For the first time in over a year, Mike VI attended an LSU football game at Tiger Stadium.
According to an LSU Media Relations news release, representatives from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine will attempt to load Mike into his trailer for the season’s first three home games against McNeese State, Auburn and Eastern Michigan.
With the first game of the season under their belt, Mike VI and his caretakers will spend the next two weeks preparing for his appearance during the Tigers’ next home game against Auburn.
Public relations director for the SVM Ginger Guttner said the tiger — not SVM personnel — decides whether he will ride through Tiger Stadium for home games.
“We take Mike’s trailer and back it up to the night house on the PMAC side and attach it to his night house via a chain link fence,” Guttner said. “Then we open the door to the trailer, followed by the night house, and then we wait.”
If Mike loads, he is normally on the field two hours prior to kickoff, Guttner said. Mike VI’s veterinarian Dr. David Baker and two veterinary student caretakers accompany Mike while on the field and escort him, alongside a crowd marshal between his habitat and Tiger Stadium.
Guttner said current SVM students are eligible to serve as Mike VI’s caretakers. No specialty in large or exotic animal handling is required — just a commitment to taking care of Mike seven days a week for two years.
Mike has attended 32 of the 57 home games since his 2007 debut at Tiger Stadium for the Florida vs. LSU game, according to the release.
That season, he attended all but the first home game, and in 2014, he did not attend any home games, according to the release.
LSU President F. King Alexander said in the release that Mike’s behavior was reluctant in 2014. If that behavior continues into the 2015 season, Alexander said the alternative option is to leave Mike in his habitat during games.
“It’s fun for us when he decides to go to the game, though,” Guttner said. “The cheerleaders get on top of the trailer, the opposing team must pass him to get into the stadium — it’s a good time.”
Business senior Zach Dubiel said he has attended LSU games since he was 12 years old, sometimes just to see Mike there.
“I love having Mike at the home games because it adds to the intimidation that is already Tiger Stadium,” Dubiel said. “It’s a very cool tradition, and I couldn’t imagine LSU gameday without [Mike].”