Mike & Me

Dan McKain

Baton Rouge — The mascot of the LSU football team, Mike VI, a cross of a Bengal and Siberian tiger, is only two years old and at 300 pounds plus, is only about half-grown. Yet still an impressive beast! At all the university’s home games, he is kept in his cage that is parked near the visiting team’s locker room. Talk about intimidation!

Very shortly after registering for the school’s Lagniappe Studies Program, I, too, had the opportunity to meet Mike VI. I can now personally attest to the “fear factor” involved in an up-close -and-personal encounter. It had only been a week or so since the fatal incident involving a tiger at the San Francisco zoo. However, being fully aware that Mike’s million-dollar habitat is one of the safest, I was somewhat confident that I and about a dozen other visitors had nothing to fear.

From the moment I came up on my electric scooter and made eye contact with the huge cat, I quickly realized that I was looking into the eyes of one of the most magnificent animals I had ever seen. I depend heavily on the scooter because of a medical mobility problem with my legs. It may have been my imagination, but I also immediately felt a sense of the big cat’s acceptance and friendship.

Many wildlife authorities advise against making direct eye contact with wild animals under the theory that this constitutes a threat to the animal’s territorial imperative. But there are differing views. My own experiences — including work with a pair of endangered Florida panthers through a wildlife conservation group based in Florida — suggests that many wild animals have an innate understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. This is not, however, to say that you should ever, not for an instant, forget that they are wild animals and fail to give them the respect they deserve.

For the next 45 minutes, I was most privileged to have Mike VI’s virtually

undivided attention, almost as if he had found someone he wanted to bond and play with. As I wheeled my scooter slowly around his enclosure, the big cat followed me. At times, we came as close to each other as the protective wire fence and Plexiglas panels would permit.

Mike would see where I had moved and follow me. Once, he even made a leap of several yards from the ground into the water, close to where I was. Upon touching the bottom of his pool, he immediately rebounded up and, while standing upon his hind legs, made face-to-face contact with me. He was so close that the fur on his face pressed tightly against the Plexiglas and exposed one of his huge fangs.

As I put a finger against the protective glass, Mike gently pressed one of his giant paws against the other side of the barrier. The tiger even brought one of his inflatable toys over for my inspection. When I moved to another location

for a better view of him, the big cat gracefully moved to where I was.

There were about a dozen other visitors there that day and Mike VI showed no apparent interest in following them. It was truly the experience of a lifetime, one that I hope to try and repeat very shortly.