Cayenne was a "spirit leader" of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. He was an anthropomorphic Cayenne pepper (a staple spice of the Acadiana region in which the school is located). Louisiana does not have an official mascot. In recent years the university has had several mascots including live bulldogs (when the athletic teams were named the Bulldogs), Mr. Ragin' Cajun (animated), and the Fabulous Cajun Chicken (the most popular mascot in the history of the school). Cayenne was created using an "out of the box" method. Instead of being a physical representation of Ragin' Cajuns, like most mascots are, Cayenne was the embodiment of the Ragin' Cajun spirit of Acadiana.