You know Bucky Badger is the official mascot for the University of Wisconsin. You may even know his full name is Buckingham U. Badger. But here are five fast facts you (probably) didn’t know…
- A Badger was UW’s mascot since the inception of collegiate football in 1889, but the original live mascots were too hard to control and regularly wreaked havoc during games.
- Instead of a live badger, the mascot was once a raccoon named Regdab (badger spelled backwards) and was explained to be a Badger in a raccoon coat. This ill-conceived and ugly scheme, much like Don Morton’s Veer Offense of the late 1980s, did not last.
- Bucky, sporting a cardinal and white sweater, was first drawn in 1940 by professional illustrator Art Evans.
- A male cheerleader first wore a badger outfit with a papier-máchê head at the 1949 homecoming game.
- Before settling on Bucky, earlier Badger mascots had other names, including Benny, Buddy, Bernie, Bobby and, we kid you not, Bouncey.
