The Most Bizarre Things that Americans Will Drop on New Year's Eve

This possum at the Wildlife Sydney animal park will be spared this New Year's Eve, but not all possums are so lucky. (REUTERS)

Americans are really into dropping stuff. And what better way to ring out 2013 and welcome 2014 than by tossing a possum or two? 

This goes deeper than Ryan Seacrest and a giant sparkling ball slowly falling in the middle of New York City's Times Square hell-pit. All around the country, towns are getting ready to drop some really, truly bizarre stuff. 

Here are some of the highlights.

Animals, Real and Imagined Tallapoosa, Ga., will be dropping the traditional stuffed possum at midnight. It's name is Spencer, and PETA isn't a big fan of the endeavor. After a North Carolina judge decided to let the event proceed despite PETA's protests, a captured possum in a plastic box will drop in Brasstown at midnight. This live possum drop has happened every year for two decades. Marshall P. Muskrat, who is a stuffed muskrat, will soar over downtown Princess Anne, Md., on a zip line at midnight. Chuck, a 6-foot-tall fake chicken, will drop in Delta, Ohio, at midnight. "We couldn't do a live one," says Mabel Hudson, a committee chairman. "We would have had PETA out here." A giant fake sardine will drop from a building in downtown Eastport, Maine. A hog sculpture will drop in Fayetteville, Ark. A 600-pound, 20-foot fiberglass fish named Wylie Walleye will drop in Port Clinton, Ohio. "When we're going down I-75, the truck drivers are talking about Wylie the Walleye," says the fish's handler. Beavertown, Pa., drops a ... stuffed beaver. Of course. Foodstuffs and Fruit More from National Journal John Boehner Had the Best Year in Washington Rubber Meets the Road for Obamacare Everything We Learned From Edward Snowden in 2013 Plymouth, Wis., will drop the "big cheese" at midnight. A bit earlier in the evening, a doughnut will drop in Hagerstown, Md.'s public square.  Miami will do something of a reverse drop, sending its "Big Orange" up the city's Hotel InterContinental. A pineapple will drop in Sarasota, Fla. Catch video of a recent drop here. A giant peanut M&M and a giant peach will drop in Atlanta. Why an M&M? Because not even the wholesome New Year's holiday drop can escape corporate sponsorship. Here's a particularly fun event: Vincennes, Ind., will drop 14 watermelons at midnight, with "entertainment" from "comedian" Gallagher who is known as being funny for smashing watermelons with a mallet. Before the drop, there will be a Gallagher look-alike contest. A massive, glowing pickle will drop before midnight in Mount Olive, N.C. A 75-pound, light-up Peep will drop in Bethlehem, Pa. A giant, foam potato will drop in Boise, Idaho. The potato cost $10,000 to make.

If that's not enough for you, there are always your nonfood, nonanimal options. Like in Key West, Fla., where a drag queen named Sushi will drop while sitting inside of a very large shoe. Happy New Year!