Thursday, February 25, 2010

Possums (We Do Our Part)



Pictured in this photograph are participants in a parade supporting the National Recovery Administration, circa 1935, during FDR's New Deal. Based on where I got it, in all likelihood it was taken in Griffin, Georgia.

The details of the picture tell an interesting story. The top of an actual tree has been installed in the mule-drawn wagon, and climbing around the branches are at least six live opossums. Just above and to the right of the man at center, there's what looks like the mask of a raccoon, blurred during the exposure. You can see the fellow at right is gently holding the face of the hound that eagerly tracked and treed all these living decorations. The fellow at center is holding a dog calling horn, and just to the right of his head is a lantern. So my guess is that these guys have been up all night, putting together a compelling display on behalf of the West End Cafe, and entertaining people who've been enduring some very tough times.

Ever see anything like it in the Macy's Thanksgiving or Rose Bowl Parades?

I didn't think so.

Possums rock.

5 comments:

  1. That beats a giant inflatable any day.

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  2. Wow, is that peculiar. It seems particularly odd to me given my few encounters with possums. They will generally run away, but they can also be vicious if you get too close...and these ones seem too close and too comfortable with the people. But nobody would have pet possums, would they?

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  3. I was standing on my front porch at night a couple weeks ago and a possum went scurrying by very close to me. At first I thought it was going to join me on the porch, until I kicked out my foot and said get out of here. It took the hint and headed for our garbage can, probably its original destination anyway.

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  4. No, I don't think possums are kept as pets. Probably as long as that dog is below and they're in the tree, all is copacetic for them.

    Kevin, close encounters are a little thrill. I admire their survival skills, but they are unbeautiful.

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