science

The Possum Drop

The Possum Drop is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Possum Drop rather than just read about it. In short: The Possum Drop is an annual New Year's Eve event in which an opossum is lowered at midnight. The first documented case of a possum drop was in 1990 in Brasstown, North Carolina.

Key takeaways

The Possum Drop belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Possum Drop to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Possum Drop from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Possum Drop is an annual New Year's Eve event in which an opossum is lowered at midnight. The first documented case of a possum drop was in 1990 in Brasstown, North Carolina. The original event has been discontinued, but a version of it is currently held annually in Tallapoosa, Georgia.

Brasstown Drop

Brasstown's Possum Drop was initially hosted at Clay's Corner, a convenience store owned by Clay and Judy Logan. The event featured the lowering of a live opossum in a plexiglass cage from the store's roof. Despite its name suggesting otherwise, the opossum was not physically dropped; rather, it descended gradually, akin to the descent of a time ball. Following the descent, the opossum was released unharmed. The festivities included a contest with men dressed as women to compete for the title of "Miss Possum Queen". Additionally, there were performances of bluegrass music, snacks, refreshments, and the opportunity to purchase souvenir merchandise. The Possum Drop started in 1990, featuring a ceramic opossum lowered in a fish bowl. In the following year, a live opossum, specifically captured for the occasion, was used. However, ahead of the 2004 Possum Drop, protests from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals led to a modification in practice. Consequently, roadkill was used for the 2004 event. The following year, the event returned to using a live opossum. The crowd grew to 2,000 people by 2010 and the event was featured on CBS Sunday Morning. PETA threatened another lawsuit and called on the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to step in. The WRC instead issued a permit for Clay Logan to use a live opossum anyway. In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the "Possum Drop Bill", which allowed the WRC to issue live captivity permits for events. PETA sued the WRC in response. After the retirement of Clay and Judy Logan, the event moved to nearby Andrews, North Carolina, for the 2018-2019 edition. However, this relocation was met with controversy due to an unfortunate incident during the event. The opossum involved sustained an injury, resulting in a broken leg that required amputation. Subsequently, lawsuits by PETA and appeals from concerned citizens to state authorities ensued, and the decision was made to stop the Possum Drop. Since then, the event has not been held. The event inspired the "Possum Drop Song", which continues to be performed annually at the John C. Campbell Folk School.

Tallapoosa Drop In the late 1990s, Tallapoosa town organizers created a New Year's Eve event based on a historical reference to the town given by old settlers, Possum Snout. For this event, they opted to use a taxidermy opossum provided by local career taxidermists Bud and Jackie Jones.

Spencer, the taxidermy opossum, was suspended in a wire ball adorned with Christmas lights and positioned at ground level for the majority of the night to facilitate viewing and photography by spectators. At 11:30 pm, he was raised to the top of one of the city's tallest buildings. Then, at midnight, he was slowly lowered to the ground, to symbolize the start of the new year. Spencer's name is a tribute to Ralph L. Spencer, a prominent 19th-century businessman recognized for his contribution to the town's economic growth. TLC filmed the New Year's special of their show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo at the Possum Drop in Tallapoosa.

Criticism Possum drops have faced criticism and protest, with notable instances of opposition from organizations such as PETA. In 2013, they pursued legal action to stop Brasstown's Possum Drop, under the premise that the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission had overstepped its authority in issuing a catch permit for the event. In response to the lawsuit, the organizers opted to use a taxidermy opossum instead. PETA did not oppose this alternative approach. The same year, the North Carolina legislature passed a law explicitly granting the commission the authority to issue permits for events like the Possum Drop. Consequently, the Brasstown event was able to resume in 2014. The controversy surrounding the use of live opossums prompted significant public outcry, with thousands of local residents and individuals from across the United States signing petitions in opposition to the event's continuation with live animals. Brasstown received national attention for the 2015 New Year Possum Drop when PETA filed a motion once more to prevent Clay's Corner from obtaining a capture permit. Logan claimed he had already chosen not to pursue a state permit for that year's drop, citing time constraints.

References

External links PETA Files Lawsuit to Stop Opossum Drop Tallapoosa, GA possum drop website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Possum Drop

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Possum Drop claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Possum Drop before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Possum Drop ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Possum Drop

In research: The Possum Drop appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Possum Drop in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Possum Drop is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animal cruelty incidents, Clay County, North Carolina, Controversies in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Possum Drop outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Possum Drop in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Possum Drop means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Possum Drop out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Possum Drop in simple terms?

The Possum Drop is an annual New Year's Eve event in which an opossum is lowered at midnight. The first documented case of a possum drop was in 1990 in Brasstown, North Carolina.

Why does The Possum Drop matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Possum Drop?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Possum Drop.