There is a area in Florida that built a twelve-foot-significant monument in the middle of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would anybody should do that?
Perfectly, to start with, heroes choose effort and time to find using this devote Florida - the Panhandle town of Wausau, home of much less than five hundred folks during Washington County about 10 miles south of Chipley.
Why don't you the possum, an not likely hero to state the least? No one else puts the possum around a pedestal. Why don't you Wausau?
Next, final 1982, Wausau bought fed up with becoming neglected Along with the Florida lists of fun, fairs and festivals. Each and every place in Florida wants a festival. And never one particular dedicate Florida carries a Possum Competition. Why don't you Wausau?
If you have by no means visited Washington County, you almost certainly will Feel I am generating this up. When you've got attended Washington County, you may realize - and know This can be the correct story.
Wausau, it proved, experienced some rather powerful possum politicians from the early '80s. Listed below are two or three things they completed:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the incredibly initially Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida. That led to your creating Using the monument along State Freeway seventy seven in Wausau.
They even bought The us Congress to current market the possum. Congress joined the exciting by the resources for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau might have a place to carry its once-a-year Enjoyment Day and Possum Pageant. Showcasing a queen contest and possum auction, among the other issues, the Pageant attracts tons of people on a yearly basis, and so that they like it.
Day out For several educating of Northerners in this article. The South's possum is equivalent lowly animal you simply call opossum, (Why use 7 letters when 6 will do?) It's a smallish marsupial that life in trees and reveals its unattractive physique only in the evening. check here That's why, when you're inside of right commit Florida, you can listen to possum hunters' canine baying and barking. Treed by canine, the possum 'freezes', so It can be not so hard to hook (or shoot) 1.
An inscription round the monument in the midst of Wausau cites the possum's job in delivering 'both fur and foodstuff' through the entire hundreds of years. It goes to say: 'Their presence listed here has delivered an origin of nutritious and flavorful meals in standard periods and has been A necessary support to human survival during times of distress and critical need.'
Snicker if you prefer. The persons of Wausau will giggle together with you - although downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.