Top 10 Live Animal Mascots

The Air Force Academy has the falcon which is trained as falcons can be and soars high during the game and swoops and catches some prey during halftime. The United States Military Academy has three mules which appear at home games. There is a proliferation of bulldogs as mascots in colleges and eagles are a common mascot...schools who have bulldogs as mascots include Georgetown University and Yale University.

A few big schools have horses and usually riders to go with it...the University of Southern California has the famous white horse named Traveler who is ridden by Tommy Trojan. Murray State has Racer 1...they're from horse breeding country. Florida State has its famous horse Renegade ridden by Chief Osceola a Seminole Indian warrior.

The University of Kentucky has a live bobcat though we know Kentucky as the Wildcats.

Colorado State University has a live male bighorn sheep...he's very impressive and is on the small list of top contenders for number one.

My alma mater--Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania-- has a (human) bald eagle as its mascot though I haven't been back recently to see who wears that outfit...Lock Haven University occasionally donned the mysterious cloaking of the purple fog: it was an actual purple fog to cloak the football team's entrance on to the field. Since we're talking bald eagles Georgia Southern University has a live bald eagle mascot named Freedom.

The University of Washington has a husky: a live Siberian husky.

The University of Texas has a longhorn steer who is huge and possibly wins the bulk award...in the gross weight competition is the University of Colorado who to my memory though my research for this story didn't reveal it has a live buffalo who is also well over half a ton and may be close to a ton in weight--WOW! Baylor University has a live black bear who is bulky though short of its Texas neighbor's longhorn steer bulk.

My birth state has the University of Arkansas and a live Russian boar named Tusk to represent the Arkansas Razorbacks which is a semi-domesticated pig so named because it has a razor-like mane on top of its back.

Here's my list.

Top Ten Live College Mascots

1 Traveler... the beautiful white horse who conquers the crowd at University of Southern California home games...Tommy Trojan rides in on him and the spectacle is spine tingling.

2 Colorado State University...the live bighorn sheep who inhabits the Rocky Mountains is a tribute to the wilderness and the rugged mountains of Colorado.

3 University of Kentucky...its mascot Blue--one of three but the only actual bobcat-- lives in Frankfurt, Kentucky and is too shy to go to games. Bobcats are nocturnal and Blue is not comfortable at basketball games.

4 Carnegie Mellon University has Scotty the Scottie Dog which makes it the most fashionable of all mascots in my estimation...I don't know if the school even has a football team to show the dog to the fans.

5 The United States Air Force Academy has a live falcon which I saw at a game in 1985...he is trained and is magnificent...he symbolizes the flight mission Air Force Academy cadets have embarked upon.

6 Florida State University has Chief Osceola riding Renegade...the horse and the rider are both a sight to see.

7 The University of Texas has Bevo a huge longhorn steer who looks to be approaching a ton in weight...don't get the longhorn angry!

8 Southern Illinois University has a live saluki to greet the fans at home games...the saluki which resembles a greyhound is of North African descent and was bred to hunt gazelles on the African plains more than two thousand years ago.

9 Texas A & M has a live collie who is cared for by students at this military school...he is a warming sight on the sidelines of a football game.

10 The University of Oklahoma has two horses--Boomer and Sooner--who pull the Sooner Schooner on to the field at home games...the schooner is a covered wagon.

Resources:
www.wikipedia.org/college_mascots

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