There has been a really heated battle being waged in Collier County, Florida. It really would not be very serious to the outsider but those that live here have drawn heated battle lines and are ready to slug it out, verbally, physically, and in court, if necessary. The whole battle centers on a County mascot. I know that seems trivial but to the natives it is dead serious.
The two sides have different ideas about the proper animal to be elevated to the level of “supreme adorable creature”. One side favors the Florida Manatee. The other side favors the Florida Panther. The manatee is a quiet creature that swims slowly along in fresh water eating underwater vegetation. They favor warm water and can be found in large groups around power plant discharges of heated water. They can often be mistaken by black floating garbage bags. Early sailors mistook them for mermaids. Talk about being hard up!!!
The Florida Panther is a reclusive creature. It is seldom seen except as road kill. They have a nasty habit of jaywalking instead of using marked cross walks to cross a road. They eat just about anything that moves, crawls, or walks. Panther backers are passionate in their defense of their choice of animal.
In my own humble opinion neither the manatee nor panther qualify as the perfect mascot for Florida since neither one is known to all natives and non-natives alike. My choice is one that almost everyone encounters in their daily travels about the County. My choice is a speeding garbage truck, driven by an illegal alien, speeding through a red light.
Dal
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