An area in Florida - Let us Cheer the Lowly Possum

There is a spot in Florida that built a 12-foot-superior monument in the center of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would any individual could love to do that?
Nicely, to begin with, heroes are tough to investigation with this particular commit Florida - the Panhandle town of Wausau, residence of fewer than five hundred persons in the heart of Washington County about ten miles south of Chipley.
Why don't you the possum, an unlikely hero to convey the the very least? No person else puts the possum about a pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Secondly, in 1982, Wausau got Unwell and Bored with staying neglected of the Florida lists of enjoyable, fairs and festivals. Just about every set in position Florida requires a festival. Instead of a person make investments Florida carries a Possum Competition. Why not Wausau?
If you have not attended Washington County, you almost certainly will Consider I am producing this up. Should you have long gone to Washington County, you can expect to comprehend - and know that is a genuine Tale.
Wausau, it ended up, had some very powerful possum politicians through the early '80s. Here i will discuss two factors they completed:


They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the main Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida. That led on the making of the monument alongside Point out Highway 77 in Wausau.

They even got the United States Congress to market the possum. Congress joined the enjoyable by the money for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau could have a location to guidance its annual Exciting Day and Possum Competition. That includes a queen contest and possum auction, amid other factors, the Pageant draws in many people on a yearly basis, moreover they adore it.
Day out For numerous educating of Northerners right here. The South's possum is identical lowly animal you call opossum, (Why use 7 letters when 6 can do?) It's a smallish marsupial that life in trees and displays its unattractive human body only at nighttime. This is exactly why, When you are within correct commit Florida, you could hear possum hunters' dogs baying and barking. Treed by puppies, the possum 'freezes', so it click here is simple enough to hook (or shoot) just one.
An inscription with regard to the monument in the midst of Wausau cites the possum's function in offering 'both fur and foodstuff' all over the generations. It goes on to say: 'Their presence here has furnished a useful resource of nutritious and flavorful food stuff in ordinary times and has been a major support to human survival when in distress and critical need.'
Laugh if you're keen on. The folks of Wausau will laugh together with you - although downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.