re: Uga, Smokey, Bevo - just some of the live mascots still on field. WHY NOT MIKE?!?

There is only one correct answer ... Liability.

VI tried to grab one of the handlers when practicing loading into the trailer. He rammed the trailer to create a gap between the cage and trailer then exploited it in an attempt to get a quick snack. It scared the people that make the decision and will probably never happen again. Go see him at his habitat.

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There literally is nothing preventing Mike from returning to the field other than his far left keeper who is soon to retire. I’m glad this douche is retiring.

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Hahahahaha.

What a shitty take.

I think the option should be there to train him and allow him to be at the game beforehand if he’s willing


To those saying he’s a a wild animal. That’s not exactly true.. he’s a caged animal and has been fed and trained his entire life to follow certain instructions..

If I remember right, it had something to do with the new rules for keeping a live tiger on campus.

How old are you, like 14?
Grow the eff up. You think it's cool to scare the daylights out of that cat? Wtf is wrong with you.

I would put a uniform on him and enter him in the Bama game. Make him a running back and we would win for sure.

Mike never had issues in the cage until the athletic department decided to use fireworks as the team entered the field. If I remember correctly, Mike freaked with the explosion.

Do away with the fireworks until Mike has left the field… worth a try.

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Two house pets and drugged up livestock. Not really an apples to apples comparison to an apex predator. Look, I loved seeing mike paraded through the stadium as much as anyone, but having thought about it getting older, its not hard to realize how much of a sensory overload that is for a tiger who's existence is based on stealth and silence. I bet it is hard for the vet school/caretakers to say they are doing everything in the best interests of the cat but 6-7 times a year we toss him in a cage and through the middle of 100,000 screaming fans and football players running around.

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Can't agree more. I remember Mike in his cage parked at the visitors entrance to the field, and baiting him to roar at opposing players as they came onto the field.

They normally mic'd up his cage and piped the roars out over the PA system, too. What LSU fan wouldn't get completely psyched up by that?

But, as the4thgen said, times change. I took my kids to Seaworld when they were young, and my (very small at the time) son was the child selected to go up and kiss Shamu during the show. Cool at the time, but looking back now it's a WTF was I thinking moment?

Orcas are no more "domesticable" than bengal tigers. Both are apex predators of their environments, and if you care at all about the welfare of an animal you claim to love, then forcing them into behaviors that go against their nature (at best) or traumatize them (at worst) wouldn't even cross your mind.

And if you get eaten by said beloved animal, then chalk it up to them doing what they do (we are, after all, just snacks to them).

FWIW, I really like the idea of enlarging his enclosure to include some kind of tunnel or enclosed skyway between a field area and his home. He could come and go as he pleased.

Another idea I heard is to put large screens next to the visitor's field entrance. When they some out, run a video of Mike roaring his arse off and charging - and play it LOUD.

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You don't think a cat can learn "Hey I don't like what follows getting in this thing"?

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My pet cats are dumb as rocks, but when it comes to the pet carrier and going to the vet they've learned the same thing: "Hey, I don't like what follows getting in this thing"