SMU's Peruna: Killer Mascot with a Very Dark History

Dec 5, 2024, 10:33 AM

I saw that SMU will bring its current Peruna mascot to the game Saturday.

FWIW: Peruna has a very dark past! Peruna 1 is the NCAA’s only mascot to kill another team’s mascot.

From Twitter (X):

https://twitter.com/txfblife/status/1715479864910746059

Did you know that SMU’s Peruna is the only mascot to have ever killed another college mascot? It's true. It happened 89 years ago with the very first Peruna, Peruna I. At the game against Fordham University in New York City, Peruna kicked the Fordham Ram mascot so hard in the head that he killed it immediately Other incidents: • Kicked Bevo, the live Texas Longhorn mascot, in the ribs sending Bevo to the ground • Attempted to mount the Texas Tech horse • Delayed a game in 2022 by defecating on the playing field

From Roadside America:

“Peruna was a tiny Shetland pony, the mascot of Southern Methodist University, billed as "the midget wonder horse." He was named after a then-popular 36 proof "medicinal tonic" -- popular on campus during Prohibition -- because of his "spirited" nature.

Indeed, the cute-looking horse was infamous for tormenting other mascots and his human handlers. In his brief two-year reign of mayhem he attempted to mount the Texas Tech mascot, ran onto the field and took a dump in the middle of the SMU's brand-new football turf, and killed the Fordham University ram by kicking it in the head.

Peruna was run over by a car on Halloween 1934, and was buried by a genuinely grieving student body outside the football stadium. Three years later a statue of the pony was placed atop his grave, and when a new stadium was built the statue was moved along with it (The grave stayed where it was). Seven successive "Peruna"s have followed in the original's hoofprints, but none have equaled his reputation for hijinks and chaos.”

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/29971

Story from FoxNews:

"Since then, Peruna I traveled by city cab while in New York City for the Fordham game," the school’s website said. "He later killed the Fordham goat mascot with a swift kick to the head when he wandered too close. Peruna V stayed in Chicago’s posh Stevens Hotel but showed his wilder side when he kicked out his boxcar stall while traveling to Lubbock for an SMU-Texas Tech game."

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/smus-horse-mascot-causes-unfortunate-delay-teams-game-vs-navy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruna