Obituary--Pogo Possum run over by off highway vehicle at Hawksnest

Pogo Possum, a cartoon personality and one of the last surviving members of the “Okefenokee Eleven,” died December 5. Mr. Possum brought blue-eyed cheer and soft satire to millions of Americans during the dark years of the Cold War and the McCarthy Era. He was 66--an exceptionally advanced age for a marsupial. He died the victim of an apparent hit-and-run accident on Hawksnest Road.

In a bizarre turn of events, a hiker spotted his flattened body in the middle of the possum crossing, and took a cell phone photo, running off to summon the Harwich animal body detail. But when they arrived, the remains had disappeared, leaving only a furry grease spot on the road. After several days of deliberation, the Cartoon Coroner pronounced him “out of print.” The SPCA is conducting an investigation.

Accident scene--the cell phone photo

Possum began work in the cartoon industry in 1943, soon growing into the rounder, baby-faced contours of Disney characters. He was famous for introducing political and social satire into comics. But satire led to his phone being tapped by the FBI, and some officials wondered whether the whimsical banter of Pogo and his friends was a code produced by Russian spies.  More

Pogo and his gang of Okefenokee misfits portrayed an ideal southern society, without species divisions.

His increasing popularity led to an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1952. His campaign slogan, “I go Pogo,” became an expression of protest. Perhaps the most famous quotation attributed to Mr. Possum is: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Possum’s longtime friend, Churchy LaFemme said: “That quote says it all… about why our ponds are in trouble.”

Churchy LaFemme was last seen headed south.

"This park ain't safe for critters, because of the OHVs."

In his later years, controversy swirled around his name, while partisans all but forgot the old marsupial himself. Legally, it’s Possum, but the National Association of Taxonomists long championed Opossum, while the Society of English Teachers campaigned for ‘Possum ( the apostrophe to signify the missing “O”). Meanwhile, the Irish claimed it was O’Possum. Next, proponents of Intelligent Design argued that, since opossums hadn’t changed in 60 million years, that meant evolution was dead.

Possum was close to his father, Walt Kelly, and after Kelly’s death in 1973, Pogo entered decline. Possum moved to New Orleans, where locals failed to appreciated his gentle wit.

With the destruction from Hurricane Katrina, Possum became a refugee, eventually moving to Hawksnest State Park, where he established residence in hollow tree #190.

Home at Hawksnest

Bucky Badger, who came summers from Wisconsin, is one of the few who knew Possum during his last years in Cape Cod.  The two used to visit the Chatham Bars Inn after closing time, drinking leftover beer from discarded cups. Badger said, “He wasn’t very talkative… he’d just lean back against that wall, there, and look up at the sky. Kind of sad. He used to be even more famous… than I am. And now, he’s just a... varmint."

Some say Possum moved here with high hopes of starting a casino. According to Badger, Possum said: “We marsupials aren’t bound by any treaties. We’re the Original Americans--we’ve been here 12 million years, and I think that gives us some rights.” Possum thought there was enough traffic on Rte. 137 to support a small casino in a hollow tree. Badger said, "It's ironic that the same traffic he dreamed about for the casino--that traffic’s what done him in.”

In recent weeks, neighbors say Possum was despondent over plans by State Legislators to cut DCR funding even more. And Possum was also grieving for some distant relatives who perished when the State illegally cut the Zimmer Tract, land given the Mass. DCR to safeguard.  Churchy said:  “I think he just lost heart. Probably just stepped in front of a that vehicle, if you know what I mean."

Despondent over cutting of the Zimmer Tract by DCR

Possum leaves no known survivors, although he is rumored to have many half siblings from his father’s days in the Disney Studios and Dell Comics. His stepmother Selby Kelly died in 2005, after several attempts to revive Possum’s following.

Neighbors of Hawksnest regret not knowing about the illustrious old marsupial living in their midst. They have pledged to remember Possum by joining Friends of Hawksnest State Park. 

Park neighbor Liz McBride said, “Posthumously, he‘s still the Protest Possum.  People are going to rally to protest neglect of the park by the State."  The funeral date is to be announced. Thousands are expected.

Tiptoeing over the trash at the Round Cove Rd. parking area. Ouch.

All drawings except Bucky copyright by Walt Kelly, used here under "fair use" provision of law. Photos copyright by David Thompson

A tale of two lakes

Lake Mendota, with Wisconsin state capitol in rear

Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, is famous for its lakes.  But while they look great on post cards, the reality is not so nice.  Recently, Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources has been trying to revise the shoreland zoning rules--with much controversy.  Business groups are howling that property owners are going to lose their property rights. 

L. Mendota: shoreland development, and muddy runoff from a storm

We should start a "Sister Lakes" organization, because the two lakes have a lot to teach one another. Lake Mendota has slipped a long way down that road towards senility (eutrophication), while Hawksnest is still young and pristine. So Hawksnest can teach people in Wisconsin what pure water is like, and how to get there.

Hawksnest is so pure you can see right to the bottom from a canoe. When I was a kid living on its shore, I could drink the water as I swam. And yet it was warm enough for comfortable swimming. You'd come back from a swim cleaner than you went in (now a radical idea in Wisconsin). The bottom is sandy, not mucky--there are no weeds to tangle your legs.

That's why I'm a crusader for water quality. I've experienced pure water, and I can't forget what it's like.

Shore vegetation and sandy soil filter water going into Hawksnest

And what does Lake Mendota have to teach Hawksnest?

Sadly, it's a warning. People who visit Hawksnest are oblivious to its rare value, take it for granted, and are hell-bent on abusing till it becomes just like Lake Mendota.

If Hawksnest could give some sisterly advice to Mendota, she would say: "Look at my shore. Everywhere it's clothed in vegetation. Not a drop of rainwater gets into my body--unless if falls on my face, or flows through the ground, or flows through my "skin" of shoreland plants. I need my shoreland zone. Puncture that, and I'll start to die."

A pond starting to die?  Off-highway vehicle abuse at Hawksnest.

Click here for more about water problems of Lake Mendota and Madison, WI.