# Do any sports teams have living, real animals as team “pets” or “mascots” or “ambassadors” or what have you? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 23, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414 "2025-08-23T16:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/61 "2025-08-25T12:38:11Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > a check via the Internet confirms that they do have one As do a few posts in this thread, including the one right above yours. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/62 "2025-08-25T12:41:19Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > As do a few posts in this thread, including the one right above yours. So, what point is it, exactly, that you are trying to make? If it is that my post is repetitious, so be it but, apparently, so are are others since you use the phrase, “a few”. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/63 "2025-08-25T12:48:02Z")
I know what point he is trying to make! 🤣 And no, I am not telling you either! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/64 "2025-08-25T13:05:48Z")
We do encourage posters to read the thread before chiming in with something that has already been said multiple times, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/65 "2025-08-25T13:14:25Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > If it is that my post is repetitious, so be it but, apparently, so are are others since you use the phrase, “a few”. Yes, your point was repetitious, as was a poster several posts earlier. Hence, ‘a few’. Which I also called out for repetition. (Which is one of my pet peeves.) Look, I’m not trying to be snarky, but, seriously, the post immediately above yours referenced Ralphie the buffalo. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/66 "2025-08-25T13:19:12Z")
Since I have a _nagging feeling_ that CU-Boulder’s Ralphie the Buffalo _may_ have already been covered … an hour away, in my town, lurks this guy: > **[CAM the Ram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAM_the_Ram)** > > CAM the Ram is the mascot of Colorado State University. There is the live mascot whose origins date back to a competition held in 1946 to name the new face of the university. The winner was an alumnus who created the acronym CAM from the schools name at the time, Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College. CAM's most notable appearance is during home football games. CAM runs across the endzone during home football games after a touchdown. Then there is the costumed mascot also named CA CAM h... ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/67 "2025-08-25T16:19:44Z")
Oh Black Betty, Cam the Ram a-lam… ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/68 "2025-08-25T16:29:23Z")
The University of Tennessee Volunteers have had a series of big ol’ floppy hounds, all named Smokey. The Rochester Red Wings, the Washington Nationals’ AAA affiliate, have Bruce the Bat Dog. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/69 "2025-08-25T16:52:29Z")
My high school team is the Amherst (Ohio) Comets. We adopted Halley’s comet but didn’t realize it only appeared every 76 years. And even then we couldn’t see it. Sucks not having an astronomy department. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/70 "2025-08-25T17:02:20Z")
the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons used to have a living falcon as a mascot, back when they played in an open air stadium. You can probably see where I am going with this. One day the falcon flew off and was eventually found in a parking lot. I thought I read that they had reinstated the live falcon now that they play in a dome, but couldn’t find confirmation online, ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/71 "2025-08-26T15:22:29Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [Dubs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubs_(mascot)) the Washington State Huskies mascot. Current mascot is Dubs II, but there have been many different names since 1922. U. of Washington, not Washington State ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/72 "2025-08-26T15:29:23Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > U. of Washington, not Washington State However, Washington **State** , where the sports teams are nicknamed the “Cougars,” did use live cougars as mascots from 1927 until 1978 – all of them were named “Butch,” after a WSU quarterback from the 1920s, Butch Meeker. The school has used a person in a cougar costume since then. [https://foundation.wsu.edu/2022/02/18/the-wsu-cougar-spirit-tales-and-legends/](https://foundation.wsu.edu/2022/02/18/the-wsu-cougar-spirit-tales-and-legends/) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/73 "2025-08-26T16:13:58Z")
Columbia University, home of the Lions, brought out a live lion at the 1934 Rose Bowl and again at a 1963 game against the Princeton Tigers. The school also had occasional visits from Matilda, the Harlem Goat in the 1910s. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/74 "2025-08-26T16:15:51Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > U. of Washington, not Washington State Dang, not only did I know that, the name Dubs is a clear giveaway. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/75 "2025-08-26T18:01:51Z")
My alma mater, the University of Florida, does not have a live alligator mascot, but there are live gators on campus (particularly in Lake Alice). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/76 "2025-08-26T18:04:54Z")
From [Princetoniana](https://princetoniana.princeton.edu/miscellaneous/tiger): > In 1923, a live tiger who had been captured in India by the father of a football player, Albert F. Howard '25, was brought to Princeton as a mascot; but after several weeks of mounting community anxiety he was given to a zoo. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2025, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/77 "2025-08-28T06:07:45Z")
@Railer13 Sorry, my bad. Missed it but shoulda known and at least searched the thread for “Ralphie” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/78 "2025-08-29T09:42:23Z")
Siena College (now Siena University) added a Saint Bernard dog named Baloo as a mascot in 2022. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/79 "2025-08-29T10:16:47Z")
I do wonder if Alabama keeps a bucket of red algae as mascot… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414/80 "2025-08-29T15:44:26Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I do wonder if Alabama keeps a bucket of red algae as mascot Or a [nuclear submarine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Tide_(film)). 😉 Despite being officially called the Crimson Tide, their mascot is an elephant, [for reasons](https://rolltide.com/sports/2016/6/10/trads-elephant-html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-sports-teams-have-living-real-animals-as-team-pets-or-mascots-or-ambassadors-or-what-have-you/1022414.md?page=5)