We all know about Punxsutawney Phil — that little critter has been disappointing the masses with his “predictions” for the arrival of spring for time immemorial. But did you know there are other mammals whose clairvoyance puts a lot of people on the edge of their seats, as well?
They live at Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, a menagerie of zoo residents who have correctly predicted the winner of the last 11 out of 14 Super Bowls. Last year, it was a 15-pound catfish named James Pond (he was right, FWIW).
This go-around, the job fell to Misha, a 13-year-old Siberian tiger.
"Misha has sharp instincts especially when it comes to picking a winner," Blank Park Zoo spokesperson Alex Payne told KCCI. "In 2022, Misha went against her species when she correctly predicted that the Los Angeles Rams would beat the Cincinnati Bengals.” No bandwagon behavior, here!
To get Misha’s pick on record this year, the zoo placed two boxes in her enclosure, each decorated with the colors and logos representing either the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles, and filled them with her favorite treats. Then, they left her to her own devices, letting her choose which box to dig into.
For this year’s Big Game™, the Chiefs were up for a Super Bowl three-peat — something that (technically) has never been accomplished. Nevertheless, Misha definitively tossed the Eagles box aside and went in for the KC “kill.”
"After a brief moment of contemplation, and sniffing out the competition, Misha…confidently threw the Eagles to the side before destroying the Kansas City box, signaling her pick," according to a news release.
(She did go back for the Eagles box later on, but neither the zoo nor I count that as a prediction.)
Unfortunately for Blank Park, Misha — like a lot of others — was convinced that KC would pull out the three-peat win, so they can’t count this year toward their pretty stellar record.
At the end of the day, it’s really about enrichment for the animals. But if you made your Super Bowl bets based on Misha’s prediction, we totally wouldn’t blame you.