A spot in Florida - Let's Cheer the Lowly Possum
A spot in Florida - Let's Cheer the Lowly Possum
Blog Article
There's a devote Florida that created a twelve-foot-superior monument in the center of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would any one may possibly like to do that?
Nicely, to start, heroes are tough to acquire During this dedicate Florida - the Panhandle money of scotland - Wausau, property of less than five hundred folks in the center of Washington County about ten miles south of Chipley.
Why don't you the possum, an not likely hero To place it mildly? Nobody else places the possum which has a pedestal. Why don't you Wausau?
Secondly, again in 1982, Wausau acquired sick and weary with getting disregarded With all the Florida lists of enjoyable, fairs and festivals. Each invest Florida wishes a festival. And never a single location in Florida contains a Possum Competition. Why don't you Wausau?
If you have not been to Washington County, you almost certainly will Feel I'm Therefore, making this up. For those who have frequented Washington County, you will fully grasp - and know this can be a genuine Tale.
Wausau, it turned out, had some very impressive possum politicians in the course of the early '80s. Here are two issues they achieved:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the main Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida. That led on the making from the monument alongside Point out Highway 77 in Wausau.
They even got the United States Congress to market the possum. Congress joined the enjoyment as a result of furnishing the resources for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau could have a place to maintain its yearly Exciting Day and Possum Pageant. That includes a queen contest and possum auction, between other things, the Competition appeals to many people Just about every and each year, and In addition they love it.
Time out for lots of educating of Northerners right here. The South's possum is the identical lowly animal you call check here opossum, (Why use seven letters when six will accomplish?) It is a smallish marsupial that lives in trees and reveals its unsightly system only at night. This is exactly why, after you end up inside the right commit Florida, you could listen to possum hunters' canines baying and barking. Treed by canine, the possum 'freezes', hence it can be not difficult to hook (or shoot) one particular.
An inscription with regard to the monument in the center of Wausau cites the possum's role in giving 'each fur and food' all over the centuries. It goes onto say: 'Their existence below has offered an origin of nutritious and flavorful foods in ordinary moments and has been An important support to human survival in periods of distress and demanding require.'
Snicker if you prefer. The persons of Wausau will chuckle along with you - while downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.