kevin shanahan was an employee of ontario place, a theme park attraction run by the provincial government of ontario, located on toronto's lakeshore across from municipally-run exhibition place, site of exhibition stadium, the team's home field at the time. as a university of toronto student, shanahan designed and performed in a moose costume at the park, to replace the more "motley-looking thing" they already had. the second moose costume was uncomfortable, so he designed a more comfortable bird costume. a friend suggested to him the blue jays might want a mascot. not a baseball fan, he had never seen a live game. he commented "it didn't take me long to see why a mascot was needed. the game needs a distraction. otherwise your mind wanders." shanahan was a part-time science student, before he later dropped out. previously he had attended michael power high school, where he drew comics for the school newspaper.