My alma mater, the University of Cincinnati, has a peculiar team animal called a bearcat. I had always believed this to be an imaginary creature. Then, many years later, Wikipedia came along and I looked it up. The bearcat is FOR REAL, he is related to the civet, and his other name is binturong. Doesn't he have a fine, fluffy tail? Hoorah for the bearcats! I wonder if they poop coffee beans.
Now I really must look up that imaginary creature called an Illini.
I didn't realize you were that close, I went to UC on the Batavia campus back in 80's my daughter is currently at the main campus studying Journalism, small world, aye?
Posted by: piratenamedneo | October 31, 2009 at 08:49 AM
I grew up in Cincinnati and got my BA at UC in English, then went to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and have been here ever since.
Posted by: gail | October 31, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Good luck finding any Illini - I think the Fox, Blackhawk and others wiped them out centuries ago...
Posted by: LTC John | November 02, 2009 at 02:30 PM
If I remember my Francis Parkman correctly, I believe it might have been the Iroquois who did the wiping of the Illini. They certainly came west and beat the holy bejaysus out of somebody in the area for helping the French against them.
BTW, a WWII-era carrier-based fighter, the Grumman F8F, was nicknamed the "Bearcat". I had always thought this was just idle fancy following on the F6F ("Hellcat") and F4F ("Wildcat"). I never supposed there was an actual animal involved.
Posted by: Robbo | November 03, 2009 at 04:33 PM
You'd have better luck finding the elusive ManBearPig famed in song and tale.. and at least one movie.. Try looking in the Cave of the Winds... or maybe ask Al Gore where he last saw it..
Posted by: Jake Holmes | November 05, 2009 at 09:30 AM