UNC’s live ram mascot won’t be on the field this season. Where to find Rameses
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UNC moved Rameses to a fan-accessible location outside Kenan Stadium in 2025.
- The Ram Pen offers photo opportunities with Rameses before and during games.
- Traditional mascots remain on-field as Rameses continues 100-year legacy off-field.
One of North Carolina football’s four-legged returners will not be on the field this season as fans expected.
Rameses, UNC’s live mascot, is moving to an area outside the stadium for the 2025 season at different locations. School officials specifically created “The Ram Pen” outside Gate 2 of Kenan Stadium, near the Kenan Pines hospitality area, where fans can meet and take pictures with the mascot. It will open 90 minutes before kickoff and remain open until approximately halftime.
“Our fans love Rameses, and many have shared that they would like more opportunities to interact and take pictures with him throughout the game,” a UNC spokesperson told the News & Observer on Friday.
This is not the first time Rameses has been seen outside the stadium on game days. Last season, he was located at the Bell Tower during pregame activities before taking his spot on the sideline.
UNC’s marketing team coordinated with the Hogan family — Rameses’ caretakers — to change his location.
The traditional Rameses and Rameses Jr. costumed mascots will remain part of the on-field game- day experience.
UNC will be the most recent Power Four program without its live mascot on the field after Colorado announced this week the retirement of its mascot, Ralphie VI. Unlike Rameses, Ralphie will no longer make game-day appearances.
While some programs have gone away from live mascots in recent years, they remain a large part of the football experience at others. Texas has Bevo, its longhorn steer, while Georgia is known for Uga the bulldog. N.C. State also has Tuffy, a Tamaskan dog that shares similar physical characteristics with wolves.
History of Rameses
The live mascot version of Rameses has been a Carolina tradition for more than 100 years, ever since the original ram made his debut at a game on Nov. 8, 1924.
Head UNC cheerleader Vic Huggins was inspired by Jack Merritt, a star member of the university’s football team in the 1920s who earned the nickname “the battering ram.” Huggins bought the animal for $25, per the university.
After a two-game losing streak to start the season, the football team won its third game — the first with Rameses there to cheer them on.
The original Rameses died before the 1925 season, but a second Rameses took his place, keeping the tradition alive — at least for a year. Rameses II died after his sole season on the sidelines, and the team went without a live mascot for several years before Rameses III debuted in 1933.
In all, there have now been 22 Rameses. Since 1936, the Hogan family of Orange County has served as the mascots’ caretakers.
Over the years, Rameses has survived several kidnapping attempts — and some successes — with the first recorded in 1942 about 10 days before UNC played N.C. State, according to the Carolina Alumni Review. Some rivals have also painted Rameses’ horns — typically a characteristic Carolina blue — in their own team colors. In 1996, Rameses was found slaughtered in his pasture. Police later arrested a man for cruelty to animals in connection with the killing.
The current mascot, Rameses XXII — real name Otis — assumed the role in 2020. He is a Horned Dorset ram from northern Virginia and about 6 years old.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 1:59 PM.
