NC Town's New Year's Eve 'Possum Drop' Squashed

Following outcry from PETA, a judge in North Carolina has put the brakes on a bizarre holiday tradition, reports Fox News. For the past 21 years, the residents of Brasstown have rung in the new year by placing a live possum in a glass box and lowering it for 10 seconds, a backwoods homage to the Times Square event. But after the animal-rights group filed a lawsuit against the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, a judge ruled that the agency couldn't issue a permit for the drop.

Making the story even more priceless: The ruling reads, "Hunters must afford wild animals the same right Patrick Henry yearned for: 'Give me liberty, or give me death!'" The commission has 30 days to appeal, and the event's organizer isn't giving up hope just yet, saying, "We're not optimistic or pessimistic, we’re opossum-istic." (More weird news stories.)