DARDANELLE — Like Mattie Ross from the John Wayne film True Grit, the University of Arkansas’ live mascot, Tusk III, lives on a farm near Dardanelle in Yell County.
Tusk III took over from Tusk II, who died in January.
The living quarters of the 500-pound Russian boar are spectacular - 8,000 square feet, heated and cooled - and noticeably clean.
There is no odor, loud music plays 24 hours a day and a large Razorback runs to the door to greet visitors and sniff out apples.
“Tusk II loved people and he would rush to get in the trailer when we were going to a game,” Tusk III’s caretaker Keith Stokes said. “He was always interested in the people, wanting to see what they were doing. This one is a lot more laid-back.”
Stokes, his wife, Julie, their son, Chip, and their daughter, Abbey, have joined as a family to lay new ground to the University of Arkansas mascot tradition. Stokes began to scratch behind III’s ears like one would a household pet. Tusk III slowly rolled onto his side, seeming to enjoy the attention.
In the background, in a smaller pen, racket ensued. In the pen is Tusk IV, the son of Tusk II. Stokes shouted, “Quit being jealous ... I’ll come see you in a minute.”
“IV is a lot like his daddy. We took him to Little Rock ... and I can see a lot of his daddy in him,” Stokes said. “He is up and interested in everything going on. III, he’s a laid-back kind of guy, nothing excites him; it’s just amazing.”
Stokes related a bit of what goes on during a normal game day.
“Instead of game day, wecall it game week around here,” he said. “It usually starts on Wednesday. I’ll wash him off. He stays out a lot playing in the mud, so I’ve got to get him good and washed down. He won’t go back out again until after the game.”
On Thursdays, Stokes will go in and give Tusk III a bath and prepare the trailer for pregame activities on Friday.
“Usually there are some pep rallies and things like that on Friday,” Stokes said. “We’ll leave out about 2 p.m., depending on what they have going on.”
On game day, the family will leave six hours before kickoff. They’ll take the cheerleaders around the stadium on top of the trailer carrying Tusk III and enjoy the game.
“I think most people aren’t aware of all the time that is involved with having the mascots,” Stokes said.
Every morning, Stokes checks on Tusk III and Tusk IV and lets them out of their pens to play during the day. He will spend two to three hours each evening working with the animals. Game day can be more than 16 hours of work, so he acclimates the two to what conditions will be like in the public.
“We have constant noise going on, even at home,” Stokes said. “Music seems to calm them to where they are not so skittish. Especially a radio with all the different tones. Their eyesight isn’t one of their strongest senses, so having the constant noise helps them get acclimated to everything going on around them at large events.”
Not only does Tusk III have the luxury of his own home, his travel trailer has fans with an ice misting system to keep the big fella cool during his travels toand from games. It’s also heated to keep him warm during the cooler months, and boasts one heck of a sound system.
“It’s a labor of love,” Stokes said. “We really enjoy the people, we really enjoy the animals. That was one thing. When we shut our farm down, I was going to really miss dealing with animals because I really enjoy animals. Now we just happen to have less animals, and they’re like our family members.”
Stokes, president of the Arkansas Pork Producers Association, had a commercial swine farm operation he left a couple of years ago, before he became caretaker of the mascot.
Tusk III is a little over 8 years old, and due to his age and the desire to keep the sire tradition in place, the Stokes family alternates him with Tusk IV at various events.
Tusk IV is a little under a year old and he will be seen at pep rallies throughout the football season before he becomes the full-time mascot in January.
“We and Georgia are the only two that have line mascots where the father sires the replacement,” Stokes said. “I plan to pass my duties down to my son, and we hope it will continue from generation to generation. We are trying to follow the Georgia plan as much as possible. It’s kind of new ground for us, and I guess we’re kind of writing the book as we go, as you would say. It is going to be important the people who do it next know what the ground was built on.”
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 09/26/2010