Ah, The Political Life ...

There's a great AP story today at the website of the Bradenton, Florida, Herald concerning one of the rituals of Florida politics: the Wausau Possum Festival. Candidates for Florida political office, from Senate candidates on down, marched in the possum parade, dined on succulent possum plates, and bought possums at auction to celebrate the canny marsupial. Reading the story was almost enough to make me reconsider my decision not to write about politics on NatureS. Almost. But do go take a look.

We have barbecues, fishfries, and other feedings here in Western North Carolina that are mandatory for serious office seekers, but our closest local equivalent to the celebration of the possum is probably the spring ramp festivals (held this year in Sylva, Robbinsville, Leicester, Waynesville and Cullasaja), where politicians of all stripes gather to pay homage to the Smokies' wonderful wild member of the onion clan.












Another way in which we're blessed up in the hills, I guess; I'd bet any ambitious would-be legislator would rather eat ramps than possum. In fact, one of the candidates in Florida said he had "had possum before and that's why he didn't want any Saturday.

'It was worse than raccoon,' " he said.

Indeed. I can only imagine.

(via Huffington Post)

Thanks to the 'Possum Pages for the image.