Otey, the barefoot, overalls-wearing Arkansas Travelers mascot, is a swamp possum.
And Courtney Speyer of North Little Rock is his swamp person. She's been with Otey since almost the beginning, filling in some back in 2014 when he was first rolled out as a sidekick mascot to horse Ace.
"We are inseparable," she says of Otey. "We are best friends." He has other friends too.
So while Otey tends to be on the tiny side, typically under 5 feet, fans sometimes notice he's different heights.
Speyer says, "They'll say, 'Oh my goodness, Otey grew overnight.' Fans will be like, 'Otey took his vitamins this morning.'"
Vitamins are something else Speyer knows about. While she spends many nights and weekends at Dickey-Stephens Park and acting in local theater productions (catch her later this month in Studio Theatre's presentation of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), her day job is working as a pharmacy technician.
She says people have warmed up to the hillbilly marsupial: Initially, "a lot of people were offended by it ... but fans have grown to just absolutely love him. ... They go nuts for him."
Especially the kids. Though some are afraid, particularly of Otey's sharp teeth.
"It's just a matter of getting down and having the patience to let them pet his nose or pet his arm," Speyer says, adding with a laugh, "Or his belly -- and Otey likes to give a good leg shake because that's his tickle spot. ... Many are just not scared at all and will just run up to you and give you big hugs and love on you, and it's very sweet."
Though some adults could be sweeter.
"You would be surprised how many adults don't know to ... ," Speyer says, pausing to carefully choose her words before adding, "behave in public when they've had a little alcohol in their system. All of the mascots will have a handler with them at all times in the ballpark ... to make sure there's no tail-pulling -- and there's almost more of that from the adults than the children."
Occasionally, Otey ventures out to community events and parties, even a Hot Springs wedding ("The groom, he was a big, big, big, Otey fan," Speyer says).
But usually you'll find him at the park, dancing, posing for pictures and trying to steal food.
"Otey eats more than he should," Speyer says. "He is carrying several extra pounds. Otey's favorite food at the ballpark are the fried peanut butter jelly pies. They take an Uncrustable and put it in funnel cake batter and deep-fry it."
And water. Otey really likes water.
Speyer says, "The games do tend to last a long time, so they have to make sure the mascots are hydrated because it gets very, very, very hot when you are a furry animal in the summertime."
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SundayMonday on 07/01/2018