The Cleveland Park email list is hosting a contest to pick D.C.’s “state” animal. While we have a state bird—the woodthrush—there’s no animal representing our fair district. The contest—which is open to members of the list— has only one rule: “The animal you choose to represent DC has to live somewhere in the District, the Zoo included.”

Which is kind of a cop out, right? We know D.C. has lots of transient residents, but giving representative status to animals that could never survive in the city without the assistance of a flock of federal zookeepers is ridiculous. (Actually, this is kind of metaphorical, isn’t it?)

Anyway! D.C. has lots of animals that get along just fine without government subsidies: Foxes, squirrels, opossums, white-tail deer, alley cats, alley rats. What would you pick for D.C.’s state animal?

Photo by Mr. T in D.C. via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License