By Tim Binnall
As has become tradition ahead of the Super Bowl, a veritable menagerie of creatures from zoos, aquariums, and wildlife parks across the country were enlisted this past week to offer their predictions for big game. This year, the animal kingdom echoed the vast majority of sports pundits, experts, and talking heads by overwhelmingly picking the Seattle Seahawks to prevail over the New England Patriots in Sunday's big showdown.
Among the diverse array of creatures that have backed Seattle to date are Vulcan the lion from Utah's Hogle Zoo, Guacamole the sea turtle from San Antonio's SEALIFE aquarium, Zarina the lioness from Iowa's Blank Park Zoo, and Charlotte the tarantula from Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Additional Seahawks supporters include a clowder of big cats at the CALM Zoo in California, Benito, a Puerto Rican crested toad who lives at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, the Nashville Zoo's Wilbur the bearcat, and Pisgah Piper from the White Squirrel Institute in North Carolina.
As for the Patriots, support for the team has been in short supply among prognosticating creatures with, so far, only Nicholas the dolphin from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, Mikey the gray seal from the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Linus the ringtail lemur from Southwick's Zoo in Massachusetts giving the nod to New England. Fortunately for Pats fans, there is still some time on the proverbial clock for a comeback as several zoos and aquariums across the country plan to hold similar Super Bowl-themed events over the weekend.