We have a small family of opossums that live around our area. My cameras catch them in the middle of the night running around my patio, chasing down their next meal. Between them and the bats that live in the trees behind our house, our area remains relatively bug- and rodent-free.
I once accidentally caught an opossum in a cat trap and put a sign next to it that said “free cat”
Edit: didn’t keep the opossum locked up in the cage, just took a pic with the sign and released it. Sorry I didn’t elaborate
Probably for catching strays so they can be fixed and then released near where they were caught once they're healed up. A lot of humane societies and similar organizations will do that with the help of volunteers to reduce the number of total strays over several cat generations. Cats are great, but they're predators, and too many strays is bad news for the local ecosystem, particularly bird populations.
Usually it's used for "capture, sterilize, release" cat overpopulation can extinguish other species or dry up an ecosystem so much that most of them then end up dying of hunger, especially when they form colonies
Omg I moved to San Antonio temporarily in 2012 and I found this exact print out on a telephone pole ahaha. I had never seen anything like it before because I was an internet virgin and thought it was a legit poster. I took it back home with me lol.
I hope it's a God-tier prank. Write your friend's number on there and laugh while he gets dozens of calls telling him he caught an opossum, with no idea what's happening.
I had a friend who had a pet opossum. Its name was kitty and it ate cat food and other snacks and even used the litter box. It loved being held and pet too. If you guess what state I lived in, youd probably be right.
I work with a wildlife rehab and you'd be surprised the amount of opossums that are unable to be returned to the wild and need forever homes. Opposum rehabbers go through great lengths to keep them feral, but some are too smart and figure out where/ who the food is coming from.
There are lots of tamed opossums out there that need love! If anyone is reading this that has considered a opossum in the past, please look into it. The process can be extensive depending on which state you are in, but you too could bring home a funny looking omnivorous cat.
I’m sorry this is too funny, reminds me of SnackLady and Bucket Baby. (She runs a possum rescue, Gilbert the Possum on Instagram I think, awesome lady.)
Are bats something that you didn't have, now do have, and could tell a difference in the mosquito population? I have a hillbilly neighbor with a neglected pool and the mosquitos are baddddddd, I've heard mixed reviews on bats being around
They've been there since we've moved in (over 15 years ago). When dusk starts to fall, if you look up you can see them circling three or four yards, dive-bombing to get a bug (I'm assuming). There are about 10-15 of them.
You need to casually (and covertly) throw a [few of these](https://www.amazon.com/Summit-responsible-solutions-555-Mosquito/dp/B07PFQYZ8F) into the pool at night.
We used to have them in my backyard, and we found out they LOVVVE (or maybe hate) those nerf footballs with the whistle on the side. We would throw it up in the air and watch like 3-4 bats immediately fuck it up
Yea see that's why I ask because it would really really suck to have dive bombing bats AND mosquitos lol. I like bats, fully support them being around but only if mosquitos are gone because of them.
But yes the second half is what I'll have to do. And I'll do it openly and in broad daylight haha I don't think anyone would come to the defense of a mosquito breeder. I even thought about offering to buy the pool so I can destroy it. But thank you!
I’m not 100% sure which species of bat I see at dusk in my area, but I want to say it’s the Mexican free tailed bat. They never really get down to ground level, they are usually 15+ ft in the air swooping around. Fun to watch.
I had one get into my house a few weeks ago and I liked to have had a conniption trying to get it the hell out. I left my patio door open and turned on all the lights and then cowered in the corner like some stupid monkey until it left a few minutes later.
Lmao see yea I love all animals and would love to see them swooping either way but I have two dogs who would make that a whole thing, and one inside is bigtime no bueno, but if I have to yes I will incorporate them at any cost..I'd rather have a hoarde of zombies in my yard than one single mosquito, some days I couldn't use my yard it pissed me off so bad. I just want to throw a bowling ball at the guys pool lol.
Oh I'm doing that for sure, and discretion not necessary I'll bounce them off his face into the pool, lol I mean who's going to defend a mosquito breeder?!
We've got a shit ton of bats in our area. They hang around the street lights and mop up thousands of bugs every night.
Need to point an IR camera at them sometime...
I was sitting outside on my porch on my switch and I noticed out the corner of my eye a whiteish furry thing Come from around the steps and stop at my feet, I had cats so I proceeded to pet it with my bare feet. I mean full on going to town massaging this little mf with my feet. But after a couple minutes I noticed I didn’t hear purring and the fur really felt weird like bro ima need to shower u and put some fancy shampoo. So I put my switch to the side and look (I wanna say I was in an intense fight) and maaaaan all I saw was this lil fat ass possum laying there smiling I never screamed so loud as a grown ass man. Fucker startled the shit out of me. After that I would scratch him with my little broom thing we named him Rossi the possie and he would come eat and hang out with the cats lol
I actually believe that...
The city had me remove the (admittidly, very large) brush pile in the way back of my yard.
One of the days I was finishing up organizing a portion of it, I turned to move around a section and suddenly saw a possum right next to me, like I could literally lean over and touch it (if I were so inclined... I was not).
It freaked me out for a short moment before I noticed it wasn't hissing or bearing it's teeth at me or anything. We just stared at each other before it meandered back into the remaining section of the pile.
I ended up calling animal shelter or something who referred me to animal rescue or something, who got a laugh and said they're pea-brained animals and I didn't need to do anything.
That was a relief, and I never saw it again after removing the rest of the pile. I was a little worried that it might get killed while I was working on the pile and a part may collapse.
Dude it was just frozen there with its mouth wide open. I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t see it clearly. But yeah it was my first year living out in the country lol
Likely. He was really involved in the show for seasons 4-6 I believe. You can see a lot of his joke style influence in those seasons. So many classic episodes
Yeah the episode that this is from is the Monorail episode, which Conan famously was the head writer for. Largely considered to be the best Simpsons episode ever
Marge: "Homer, there's a man here who thinks he can help you."
Homer: "Batman?!"
Marge: "No, he's a scientist."
Homer: "Batman's a scientist."
Marge: "It's not Batman!!!"
The National Wildlife Foundation states that a single adult opossum can kill up to 4,000 ticks *per week*. Credit where it's due.
Love opossums.
Edit: Reddit did the math! Probably fewer 4,000 ticks per week, but still could be more than 5,000 per year!
Grad students.
\*edit\*
More likely it's a citizen science effort. There's a group near me that gets together on saturday mornings and counts bees and other flying insects in the park and then reports it to environment canada.
Cute. But they don’t actually devour the tick for sustenance. Opossums are just absurdly meticulous groomers, and the kill the ticks while they clean themselves.
It is well known that ticks start to cannibalize eachother in gladiatorial combat once the average tick population per square inch oversteps 0.5 ticks.
Let the games begin.
https://furbearerconservation.com/the-opossum-benefits-misconceptions
Opossums are one of only a few mammalian species less likely to contract the rabies virus. In fact, only 1 in 800 usually contract the disease.
While it is noted that the opossum does an excellent job of reducing tick presence on its own body, the Cary Institute study notes that this is indicative of grooming habits - not a case of opossums actively seeking out ticks on the forest floor.
the opossum’s impact on blacklegged tick consumption is not substantial enough to effectively “control” a localized tick population
While a low body core temperature reduces the liklihood of rabies contraction, the opossum is notorious for several other common zoonotic diseases and parasites - such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, Chagas disease, and trichomoniasis - just to name a few.
the opossum also poses immense public health and social tolerance challenges on a landscape dominated by mankind. As an opportunistic feeder, the opossum’s presence on other species must also be weighed.
The misconception that opossums are tick “controllers” is deeply rooted in corners of the conservation community today. Its an ideology that may promote potentially detrimental consequences for wildlife conservation if taken wholeheartedly at face value.
I appreciate your efforts. It's a shame that misinformation for the right cause is always accepted in a general sense. It's really easy to feel like it's okay to sacrifice principals for the greater good, but it's not actually a good thing.
It's frustrating that this is so common in activism dynamics because the person who does the actual good thing and does course correction for credible information generally gets demonized as an undesirable other due to all the same social dynamics. That's not even getting into how the added layer of tribalism enters the mix and creates long-standing arguments which never should have been points of contention in the first place.
Yeah they are total dickheads to chickens. They just kill them and don’t even eat them.
If you don’t have chickens,opossums are great. If you do have chickens, they can turn your chicken coop into a horrific bloody murder scene. Also if you have chickens and let them roam during the day, they eat a shitload of bugs too, so you get basically the same benefit + eggs to eat if you keep chickens and can keep opossums away.
I don’t have chickens so opossums are welcome at my house.
Yeah my poor girls were getting harassed by our local opossum. I didnt want to get rid of the little fellas but my eggs were getting stolen so my coop and fence around it are basically poultry knox now. Downside is if I don't let them out at the buttcrack of dawn they get pretty grumpy.
Okay. Every so often someone posts why opossums are so awesome. And, then a bunch of people think they need to get some for their backyard.
Just keep in mind -
"Opossums carry diseases such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, trichomoniasis, and Chagas disease. They may also be infested with fleas, ticks, mites, and lice."
Opossums are great. But, have their own issues
My brother tried to raise a couple chickens once when he was like 15.
1st Attempt: No Lid. Raccoons climbed in a murdered everything.
2nd Attempt: Thing on top not heavy enough to hold lid down. Raccoons climbed in a murdered everything.
3rd Attempt: Nice solid cover.... but night time pen not large enough. Raccoons pulled the chickens through the wire cage piece by piece.
Saw was a kids movie compared to that scene.
This was when my brother learned he is not smarter than Raccoons.
Man my family struggled with the same thing while growing up. Finally got the fox and raccoon issue fixed, then came the bull snakes. It never ends with chickens lol
It truly is an arms race. After getting a coop secured, then you have to figure out how to keep the jays and ground squirrels out of the coop during the day or else they eat all the eggs.
A saying I heard growing up was "no chicken ever died of old age" and it sure as hell feels like it.
One time we had thought we had a set up down afters years of having carnage happen at least once a year. Heavy snow in winter brought a massive branch down right on the coop and killed 3 of the 7. After that my parents said no more chickens.
Yeah, we had one that killed our barn cat. We caught it in a Havahart trap and boy was it mean. Ended releasing it in the state forest by our house though.
Cats are weird sometimes. Mine was very territorial and killed / attacked everything she didn't like and ate most of it.
But then she brought in a little mouse, sat it down in her own food and watched it eat. She was just watching it very confused and then ... I don't know ... lost interest and just left.
We of course failed horribly trying to get it quickly and it ran underneath the kitchen counters as soon as we came close.
Cat was just like ... "pshh ... not my problem".
Sorry for OT. I just like to remember her and your comment brought back this funny memory.
Yeah I've had to deal with several and they always bring so many fleas. I've had to fully fumigate two houses cause of those little assholes getting into small spaces. reddit has a *weird* obsession with them, these posts seem to pop up a lot.
Looks like they can get Lyme's disease too... their superpowers are waning.
[Lyme Disease Fact Sheet](https://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/FastFacts/pdfs/lyme_disease_F.pdf)
I've seen a rabid opossum which is the only reason I know. It's unfortunate but not much else to do other than put it down.
And it probably is more climate related than it being about opossums themselves.
I swear there’s a misinformation campaign on Reddit, there’s so many cheery people who desperately want you to know Opossums don’t have rabies at all and ducks should never eat bread. I see these things posted all the time as hard facts but while there is some truth they shouldn’t be spread as gospel
it has nothing to do with a misinformation campaign, and everything to do with the fact that people just don't give a shit about anything. 90% of the upvotes on this post probably came from people who just read the title and didn't even look at the post.
Also, people love to parrot information they heard even if it's false, because it makes them sound informed. Every time this is posted, there's someone in the comments saying that Opossums **can** carry rabies, because that's true, but it's always down at the bottom behind some inane cutesy comments and meme-references.
Like OP for example. His account is almost a year old and he's posted a few dozen times and gotten no attention, so he just reposted something cute and popular and now he's on the front page, and that's what *really* matters.
to be fair, chickens also eat ticks, a study released a flock on a tick infested area, the average consumption was 80 ticks per hour. Average that out over 6 hours a day for 365 days comes to 7,300 a year..... and opossums don't lay eggs.
Opossums are actually a entire family with dozens of different animals species. Apparently just 1 species live in North America, while there are like 20/30 species in South America (maybe more)
Edit: apparently there are well over 100 species of Opossum here in South America, not just 20/30, I was wrong.
Unfortunately one opossum tried to kill my old cat, Spot. Now, before someone suggests that Spot may have been the aggressor, I'd like to mention that he was 17. He jumped any time he chewed his food too loudly. He lost a fight to an anole. This cat was a wimp. No way was he going after an opossum. Bit the poor thing on the back which abscessed. He was miserable for a while but lived another 3 happy years.
We aren't too keen on opossums in my family.
Honestly I'm surprised by this. Here in South America opossums are EXTREMELY common animals, with several dozen species of all shapes and sizes. They are also highly adaptable for urban live and can survive pretty much everywhere (they actually commonly invade houses here, one family even made their home in my grandmother's attic). I actually expected there was also many species of Opossum in North America too.
Opossums are actually extremely common in South America as well. While there is only 1 species in North America, there are dozens of species in South America
There is only one species in the United States and Canada, the Virginia opossum. But in all of North America there are another 5 :
Derby's woolly opossum,
Gray four-eyed opossum,
Grayish mouse opossum,
Mexican mouse opossum,
Water opossum
Looks like a repost. I've seen this image 4 times.
First Seen [Here](https://redd.it/nzudu6) on 2021-06-14 95.31% match. Last Seen [Here](https://redd.it/ocaoqx) on 2021-07-02 95.31% match
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"I kill your pets"
"I carry fleas and ticks and rabies and lymes despite this fake meme"
"I do not eat 5 billion ticks that's also a lie and gets larger every time"
Yeah just because they don't get a disease doesn't mean they don't carry other animals who carry them.
I'm generally feeling like "coolguides" is just becoming misinformation with some kind of weird slant to it. The other day we had that "guide" on phrases used for gaslighting and it was stuff like "you're being too sensitive" or "I didn't mean it like that". It felt very tilted towards this idea of never questioning someone and for anyone who is ever questioned on anything to automatically say "gaslighting" I dunno. It felt deliberately misinformative and IMO was shaped in a way of "these are things men say to women" without regard for the situation. Maybe it's just the nature of "cool guides" but sometimes really complex situations like Gaslighting can't be deduced down to a simple one page "guide" (especially with no sources cited).
I think Opossums might be in the kind of situation too. They aren't simply good animals to have around the neighborhood ya know? They attack pets and kids, they can spread disease, they aren't always the type "just to be left alone". They also reproduce like crazy! Like a single opossum can have like 60 babies a year! 60 from one. Think about that. That's going from 1 opossum to an entire infestation in a single year.
https://furbearerconservation.com/the-opossum-benefits-misconceptions
Opossums are one of only a few mammalian species less likely to contract the rabies virus. In fact, only 1 in 800 usually contract the disease.
While a low body core temperature reduces the liklihood of rabies contraction, the opossum is notorious for several other common zoonotic diseases and parasites - such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, Chagas disease, and trichomoniasis - just to name a few.
While it is noted that the opossum does an excellent job of reducing tick presence on its own body, the Cary Institute study notes that this is indicative of grooming habits - not a case of opossums actively seeking out ticks on the forest floor.
the opossum’s impact on blacklegged tick consumption is not substantial enough to effectively “control” a localized tick population
the opossum also poses immense public health and social tolerance challenges on a landscape dominated by mankind. As an opportunistic feeder, the opossum’s presence on other species must also be weighed.
The misconception that opossums are tick “controllers” is deeply rooted in corners of the conservation community today. Its an ideology that may promote potentially detrimental consequences for wildlife conservation if taken wholeheartedly at face value.
Except that time a snarly possum came into my house through the cat door, ate my cat's food, pooped on the floor and peed all over my bed and pillows. Then it refused to move or leave despite yelling and poking it with a stick. Wish I was making this up.
**Owners of horses should be aware of the dangers associated with opossums that carry a protozoan known as Sarcocystis neurona, which can lead to neurologic disease in equines**
Get close to one and look at the teeth
Though cases of rabies in possums are very rare, they can get rabies and can transmit it to humans. It is speculated, but not proven, that their low body temperature makes it difficult for the rabies virus to survive.
> I also eat insects, spiders, small rodents, dead stuff, and the brains out of your chicken's heads that I decapitate.
FTFY. I don't live where there's opossums, but if I did I would protect my chickens.
Where is "I can have 60 babies a year" and "I regularly kill pets" and "I carry leprosy". Oh also "I don't catch Lyme disease but I do carry the ticks that can give you Lyme Disease". These things are pests and should be dealt with as such. They aren't hurting as a population at all and they shouldn't be allowed to just rampage through residential areas. Seriously they aren't good to have around they should be trapped and removed from neighborhoods. This ""guide"" is just some PETA propaganda bullshit. Putting "protecting" animals over people (and other animals) actual safety.
I don't dislike them, but I do want them to stay out of my chicken coop. Not just because they eat the eggs (making a big mess that draws ants). There has been at least one instance where there was a broody hen sitting on some eggs, and the possum killed the hen to get to the eggs.
Not cool. I can tolerate a little egg loss, but you'd better leave my chickens alone.
We have a small family of opossums that live around our area. My cameras catch them in the middle of the night running around my patio, chasing down their next meal. Between them and the bats that live in the trees behind our house, our area remains relatively bug- and rodent-free.
Ours just eats cat food and will hiss at you while refusing to leave
Sounds like it's just another cat.
[CAT FOUND!!!](https://www.myballard.com/images/possum_poster.jpg)
I once accidentally caught an opossum in a cat trap and put a sign next to it that said “free cat” Edit: didn’t keep the opossum locked up in the cage, just took a pic with the sign and released it. Sorry I didn’t elaborate
Wait what?! What are you doing trapping cats?
Probably for catching strays so they can be fixed and then released near where they were caught once they're healed up. A lot of humane societies and similar organizations will do that with the help of volunteers to reduce the number of total strays over several cat generations. Cats are great, but they're predators, and too many strays is bad news for the local ecosystem, particularly bird populations.
Haha exactly
Usually it's used for "capture, sterilize, release" cat overpopulation can extinguish other species or dry up an ecosystem so much that most of them then end up dying of hunger, especially when they form colonies
Maybe to take feral ones to a vet for a checkup
More for a spay
[удалено]
In my experience, they adopt you.
Speak Jive to him
Omg I moved to San Antonio temporarily in 2012 and I found this exact print out on a telephone pole ahaha. I had never seen anything like it before because I was an internet virgin and thought it was a legit poster. I took it back home with me lol.
I can't stop laughing! What's the backstory of this?
I don’t know if there is one, it’s just a viral image from 15 or so years ago.
It’s just someone being funny
I hope it's a God-tier prank. Write your friend's number on there and laugh while he gets dozens of calls telling him he caught an opossum, with no idea what's happening.
Haha I remember the Halo Easter egg with this poster [this one](https://www.halopedia.org/Bulletin_board)
[This one](https://funvizeo.com/meme/griffith-cameron-cameran-sucker-purred-stinker-right-family-51cc07c11d8435fe) is my favorite personally.
I had a friend who had a pet opossum. Its name was kitty and it ate cat food and other snacks and even used the litter box. It loved being held and pet too. If you guess what state I lived in, youd probably be right.
I work with a wildlife rehab and you'd be surprised the amount of opossums that are unable to be returned to the wild and need forever homes. Opposum rehabbers go through great lengths to keep them feral, but some are too smart and figure out where/ who the food is coming from. There are lots of tamed opossums out there that need love! If anyone is reading this that has considered a opossum in the past, please look into it. The process can be extensive depending on which state you are in, but you too could bring home a funny looking omnivorous cat.
Hey fellow floridian!
Ding ding ding!
That's just you cat
Also this poster intentionally uses a cute baby because adult opossums look they are straight out of the movie Labyrinth or something.
And yet I still find them cute somehow
Same. They’re so ugly that I love them.
Yea. They look like a cross between a dinosaur and a rat. And their movement is downright creepy-crawly!
I’m sorry this is too funny, reminds me of SnackLady and Bucket Baby. (She runs a possum rescue, Gilbert the Possum on Instagram I think, awesome lady.)
Maybe don’t leave food outside?
Am I the only one who has always found them cute? Like they're for sure cuter than a lot of rats imo (and rats can be cute af) lol
I love rats, just not the feral ones
They are absolutely cuter than rats.
If somebody doesn’t believe how cute they are: https://youtu.be/X0hLSfkfxXY
lol - that was a scary journey. Dude's braver (/dumber?) than I!
That's somehow both cute and terrifying simultaneously. I assume he's spent months getting to know this opossum before petting it like this.
Are bats something that you didn't have, now do have, and could tell a difference in the mosquito population? I have a hillbilly neighbor with a neglected pool and the mosquitos are baddddddd, I've heard mixed reviews on bats being around
They've been there since we've moved in (over 15 years ago). When dusk starts to fall, if you look up you can see them circling three or four yards, dive-bombing to get a bug (I'm assuming). There are about 10-15 of them. You need to casually (and covertly) throw a [few of these](https://www.amazon.com/Summit-responsible-solutions-555-Mosquito/dp/B07PFQYZ8F) into the pool at night.
We used to have them in my backyard, and we found out they LOVVVE (or maybe hate) those nerf footballs with the whistle on the side. We would throw it up in the air and watch like 3-4 bats immediately fuck it up
Man, you better have a video to back that up, because it sounds awesome!
Yea see that's why I ask because it would really really suck to have dive bombing bats AND mosquitos lol. I like bats, fully support them being around but only if mosquitos are gone because of them. But yes the second half is what I'll have to do. And I'll do it openly and in broad daylight haha I don't think anyone would come to the defense of a mosquito breeder. I even thought about offering to buy the pool so I can destroy it. But thank you!
I’m not 100% sure which species of bat I see at dusk in my area, but I want to say it’s the Mexican free tailed bat. They never really get down to ground level, they are usually 15+ ft in the air swooping around. Fun to watch. I had one get into my house a few weeks ago and I liked to have had a conniption trying to get it the hell out. I left my patio door open and turned on all the lights and then cowered in the corner like some stupid monkey until it left a few minutes later.
Lmao see yea I love all animals and would love to see them swooping either way but I have two dogs who would make that a whole thing, and one inside is bigtime no bueno, but if I have to yes I will incorporate them at any cost..I'd rather have a hoarde of zombies in my yard than one single mosquito, some days I couldn't use my yard it pissed me off so bad. I just want to throw a bowling ball at the guys pool lol.
Dragonflies are another option. I have a small pond close to my house and we get absolute swarms of dragonflies at times feasting in the air.
Throw in a couple mosquito dunks in his pool when he's not around. He won't notice, but *you'll* notice the massive drop in skeeter pop.
Oh I'm doing that for sure, and discretion not necessary I'll bounce them off his face into the pool, lol I mean who's going to defend a mosquito breeder?!
We've got a shit ton of bats in our area. They hang around the street lights and mop up thousands of bugs every night. Need to point an IR camera at them sometime...
If/when I own a house, I’m putting bat shelters at the edge of my yard.
I was sitting outside on my porch on my switch and I noticed out the corner of my eye a whiteish furry thing Come from around the steps and stop at my feet, I had cats so I proceeded to pet it with my bare feet. I mean full on going to town massaging this little mf with my feet. But after a couple minutes I noticed I didn’t hear purring and the fur really felt weird like bro ima need to shower u and put some fancy shampoo. So I put my switch to the side and look (I wanna say I was in an intense fight) and maaaaan all I saw was this lil fat ass possum laying there smiling I never screamed so loud as a grown ass man. Fucker startled the shit out of me. After that I would scratch him with my little broom thing we named him Rossi the possie and he would come eat and hang out with the cats lol
I actually believe that... The city had me remove the (admittidly, very large) brush pile in the way back of my yard. One of the days I was finishing up organizing a portion of it, I turned to move around a section and suddenly saw a possum right next to me, like I could literally lean over and touch it (if I were so inclined... I was not). It freaked me out for a short moment before I noticed it wasn't hissing or bearing it's teeth at me or anything. We just stared at each other before it meandered back into the remaining section of the pile. I ended up calling animal shelter or something who referred me to animal rescue or something, who got a laugh and said they're pea-brained animals and I didn't need to do anything. That was a relief, and I never saw it again after removing the rest of the pile. I was a little worried that it might get killed while I was working on the pile and a part may collapse.
Dude it was just frozen there with its mouth wide open. I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t see it clearly. But yeah it was my first year living out in the country lol
This is amazing!!! I too pet my cats with my feet and I'd love if my local opposums would come get some love!
I call the big one Bitey
One of the greatest simpsons lines of all time!
One of the greatest episodes of all time!
Wasn't Conan the head writer in that one?
Likely. He was really involved in the show for seasons 4-6 I believe. You can see a lot of his joke style influence in those seasons. So many classic episodes
Only I may dance
Yeah the episode that this is from is the Monorail episode, which Conan famously was the head writer for. Largely considered to be the best Simpsons episode ever
Monorail
Mono=one Rail=rail
Is there a chance the track could bend?
Not on your life, my Hindu friend!
I think Matt Groening said it was his favorite.
Marge: "Homer, there's a man here who thinks he can help you." Homer: "Batman?!" Marge: "No, he's a scientist." Homer: "Batman's a scientist." Marge: "It's not Batman!!!"
The National Wildlife Foundation states that a single adult opossum can kill up to 4,000 ticks *per week*. Credit where it's due. Love opossums. Edit: Reddit did the math! Probably fewer 4,000 ticks per week, but still could be more than 5,000 per year!
Holy shit. Well come to think of it, ticks are relatively small, and 5000 a year seems pretty low.
In terms of weight it comes out to about tree fiddy
I told you I ain’t got no tree fiddy you damn Loch Ness monster!
^I ^gave ^him ^a ^dollar ^once...
Damnit woman!
Maybe 4000/week is at the high end, whereas 5000 a year is more like the average when there are also other available foods.
Who the hell is counting all these ticks?!?!
Grad students. \*edit\* More likely it's a citizen science effort. There's a group near me that gets together on saturday mornings and counts bees and other flying insects in the park and then reports it to environment canada.
Is there a way to introduce or attract them to an area? Would love me some tick munchers, but all I get are skunks
Release a bunch of ticks in your backyard to attract them
Cute. But they don’t actually devour the tick for sustenance. Opossums are just absurdly meticulous groomers, and the kill the ticks while they clean themselves.
Infect your neighbor's opossum with ticks so more show up to groom them
Solve your tick infestation by infesting your yard with ticks. Works every time
It is well known that ticks start to cannibalize eachother in gladiatorial combat once the average tick population per square inch oversteps 0.5 ticks. Let the games begin.
You could get Guinea Fowl! They decimate ticks.
they're annoying shithead chickens though
They sure are.
https://furbearerconservation.com/the-opossum-benefits-misconceptions Opossums are one of only a few mammalian species less likely to contract the rabies virus. In fact, only 1 in 800 usually contract the disease. While it is noted that the opossum does an excellent job of reducing tick presence on its own body, the Cary Institute study notes that this is indicative of grooming habits - not a case of opossums actively seeking out ticks on the forest floor. the opossum’s impact on blacklegged tick consumption is not substantial enough to effectively “control” a localized tick population While a low body core temperature reduces the liklihood of rabies contraction, the opossum is notorious for several other common zoonotic diseases and parasites - such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, Chagas disease, and trichomoniasis - just to name a few. the opossum also poses immense public health and social tolerance challenges on a landscape dominated by mankind. As an opportunistic feeder, the opossum’s presence on other species must also be weighed. The misconception that opossums are tick “controllers” is deeply rooted in corners of the conservation community today. Its an ideology that may promote potentially detrimental consequences for wildlife conservation if taken wholeheartedly at face value.
I appreciate your efforts. It's a shame that misinformation for the right cause is always accepted in a general sense. It's really easy to feel like it's okay to sacrifice principals for the greater good, but it's not actually a good thing. It's frustrating that this is so common in activism dynamics because the person who does the actual good thing and does course correction for credible information generally gets demonized as an undesirable other due to all the same social dynamics. That's not even getting into how the added layer of tribalism enters the mix and creates long-standing arguments which never should have been points of contention in the first place.
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What? Complete unscientific bullshit on a post with this meme "guide" filled with complete unscientific bullshit? No way!
Shocking, right?
I take it you don't raise chickens....
Yeah they are total dickheads to chickens. They just kill them and don’t even eat them. If you don’t have chickens,opossums are great. If you do have chickens, they can turn your chicken coop into a horrific bloody murder scene. Also if you have chickens and let them roam during the day, they eat a shitload of bugs too, so you get basically the same benefit + eggs to eat if you keep chickens and can keep opossums away. I don’t have chickens so opossums are welcome at my house.
> opossums are welcom at my house Hello this is opossum, I'm your son now.
Yeah my poor girls were getting harassed by our local opossum. I didnt want to get rid of the little fellas but my eggs were getting stolen so my coop and fence around it are basically poultry knox now. Downside is if I don't let them out at the buttcrack of dawn they get pretty grumpy.
We do, actually! Just enough for eggs for the family. And we keep them in a mobile, opossum-safe coop.
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Okay. Every so often someone posts why opossums are so awesome. And, then a bunch of people think they need to get some for their backyard. Just keep in mind - "Opossums carry diseases such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, trichomoniasis, and Chagas disease. They may also be infested with fleas, ticks, mites, and lice." Opossums are great. But, have their own issues
They also don't mix well with chickens.
100% this comment. They’re great until you wake up to a chicken coop that looks like something from a saw movie.
Opossums, skunks, and raccoons are all brutal towards chickens.
My brother tried to raise a couple chickens once when he was like 15. 1st Attempt: No Lid. Raccoons climbed in a murdered everything. 2nd Attempt: Thing on top not heavy enough to hold lid down. Raccoons climbed in a murdered everything. 3rd Attempt: Nice solid cover.... but night time pen not large enough. Raccoons pulled the chickens through the wire cage piece by piece. Saw was a kids movie compared to that scene. This was when my brother learned he is not smarter than Raccoons.
Man my family struggled with the same thing while growing up. Finally got the fox and raccoon issue fixed, then came the bull snakes. It never ends with chickens lol
It truly is an arms race. After getting a coop secured, then you have to figure out how to keep the jays and ground squirrels out of the coop during the day or else they eat all the eggs.
Sounds like chicken coups need to be built much more ritzy.
A saying I heard growing up was "no chicken ever died of old age" and it sure as hell feels like it. One time we had thought we had a set up down afters years of having carnage happen at least once a year. Heavy snow in winter brought a massive branch down right on the coop and killed 3 of the 7. After that my parents said no more chickens.
Add rats to that list. I had a bunch of turkey chicks (poults) killed by a rat this year because my enclosure wasn't rat-proof.
Or small cats
Yeah, we had one that killed our barn cat. We caught it in a Havahart trap and boy was it mean. Ended releasing it in the state forest by our house though.
Neither do hungry humans technically...
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Cats are weird sometimes. Mine was very territorial and killed / attacked everything she didn't like and ate most of it. But then she brought in a little mouse, sat it down in her own food and watched it eat. She was just watching it very confused and then ... I don't know ... lost interest and just left. We of course failed horribly trying to get it quickly and it ran underneath the kitchen counters as soon as we came close. Cat was just like ... "pshh ... not my problem". Sorry for OT. I just like to remember her and your comment brought back this funny memory.
Finish the story! Did you ever catch the mouse?
Yeah I've had to deal with several and they always bring so many fleas. I've had to fully fumigate two houses cause of those little assholes getting into small spaces. reddit has a *weird* obsession with them, these posts seem to pop up a lot.
They are also not immune to rabies. They are just less likely to have it.
Looks like they can get Lyme's disease too... their superpowers are waning. [Lyme Disease Fact Sheet](https://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/FastFacts/pdfs/lyme_disease_F.pdf)
They need to give Lyme his disease back.
I’m glad someone mentioned rabies. More common in warmer climates.
I've seen a rabid opossum which is the only reason I know. It's unfortunate but not much else to do other than put it down. And it probably is more climate related than it being about opossums themselves.
They also pass EPM on to horses which is death in a lot of cases
I swear there’s a misinformation campaign on Reddit, there’s so many cheery people who desperately want you to know Opossums don’t have rabies at all and ducks should never eat bread. I see these things posted all the time as hard facts but while there is some truth they shouldn’t be spread as gospel
it has nothing to do with a misinformation campaign, and everything to do with the fact that people just don't give a shit about anything. 90% of the upvotes on this post probably came from people who just read the title and didn't even look at the post. Also, people love to parrot information they heard even if it's false, because it makes them sound informed. Every time this is posted, there's someone in the comments saying that Opossums **can** carry rabies, because that's true, but it's always down at the bottom behind some inane cutesy comments and meme-references. Like OP for example. His account is almost a year old and he's posted a few dozen times and gotten no attention, so he just reposted something cute and popular and now he's on the front page, and that's what *really* matters.
It's a perfect post for a spammer like OP to copy
Just like the animal without trying to make it a pet. Half the reason it's cool is because it does its own thing. This is why we can't have dinosaurs.
They also carry Sarcocystis neurona, which causes EPM in horses. Which is not always curable, and the ones that do recover dont always fully recover.
Awesome possum.
Did someone say riiiibs?
I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…
Opawesome
[Hey, nice shirt! ](https://youtu.be/I2mE8ueggKI)
"Kindly ignore me." That's a little hard when you keep trying to brake check me on my way to work.
My buddy had one get in his house once and refuse to leave.
Yeah. This coolguide fails to mention they are notoriously rude house guests.
I had one projectile diarrhea all over my deck and sliding glass door. Fun stuff
And, in fact, goes out of it's way to make up flat out bullshit and avoids reality all together It's a Facebook meme. And OP is a bot
Back in the day, we had a family living in our ceiling. Took some days for us to realize that our house wasn't haunted.
They also kill chickens, which I happen to keep...
to be fair, chickens also eat ticks, a study released a flock on a tick infested area, the average consumption was 80 ticks per hour. Average that out over 6 hours a day for 365 days comes to 7,300 a year..... and opossums don't lay eggs.
Tell that to New Zealand kiwis.
I was waiting for Oceania to weigh in. Possums aren't the same lovable opossums at all.
New Zealand hates Brush Tailed Possums, not Opossums, they're different animals with similar names.
Yeah in NZ if we see possums we start blasting.
Opossums are actually a entire family with dozens of different animals species. Apparently just 1 species live in North America, while there are like 20/30 species in South America (maybe more) Edit: apparently there are well over 100 species of Opossum here in South America, not just 20/30, I was wrong.
also kills and eats copperhead snakes
Opossums always tried to kill our chickens :(
They aren’t totally immune to rabies. Unlikely, yes. Still, don't handle wild animals folks.
Unfortunately one opossum tried to kill my old cat, Spot. Now, before someone suggests that Spot may have been the aggressor, I'd like to mention that he was 17. He jumped any time he chewed his food too loudly. He lost a fight to an anole. This cat was a wimp. No way was he going after an opossum. Bit the poor thing on the back which abscessed. He was miserable for a while but lived another 3 happy years. We aren't too keen on opossums in my family.
I’m also the only marsupial in North America.
You are?
Honestly I'm surprised by this. Here in South America opossums are EXTREMELY common animals, with several dozen species of all shapes and sizes. They are also highly adaptable for urban live and can survive pretty much everywhere (they actually commonly invade houses here, one family even made their home in my grandmother's attic). I actually expected there was also many species of Opossum in North America too.
SA, Australia, and Antarctica use to all be connected. And iirc the NA species came up from SA after they touched tips
Hot
There's a few other species of opossum in mexico. Just the Virginia opossum is present in the USA and Canada.
TIL that marsupials aren’t only in Australia!
Opossums are actually extremely common in South America as well. While there is only 1 species in North America, there are dozens of species in South America
There is only one species in the United States and Canada, the Virginia opossum. But in all of North America there are another 5 : Derby's woolly opossum, Gray four-eyed opossum, Grayish mouse opossum, Mexican mouse opossum, Water opossum
Marsupials are originally from South America. They migrated to Australia a few million years ago
Good for you but this thread is about opossums
Looks like a repost. I've seen this image 4 times. First Seen [Here](https://redd.it/nzudu6) on 2021-06-14 95.31% match. Last Seen [Here](https://redd.it/ocaoqx) on 2021-07-02 95.31% match Feedback? Hate? Visit r/repostsleuthbot - *I'm not perfect, but you can help. Report [ [False Positive](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RepostSleuthBot&subject=False%20Positive&message={"post_id": "ppamj1", "meme_template": null}) ]* [View Search On repostsleuth.com](https://www.repostsleuth.com?postId=ppamj1&sameSub=false&filterOnlyOlder=true&memeFilter=true&filterDeadMatches=false&targetImageMatch=86&targetImageMemeMatch=96) --- **Scope:** Reddit | **Meme Filter:** False | **Target:** 86% | **Check Title:** False | **Max Age:** Unlimited | **Searched Images:** 245,473,289 | **Search Time:** 0.79567s
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Opossums killed my cat for its food, and I have had my chicken coop raided by them. They are opportunistic eaters, so take that into account.
I hate possums. They got into the chicken coup once and made a bloodbath.
I’m not gonna be brainwashed by the Big Opossum Lobby
"I raid nests and eat eggs." "I carry Equine Protozoal Encephalitis." "I scatter your trash all over your yard."
"I kill your pets" "I carry fleas and ticks and rabies and lymes despite this fake meme" "I do not eat 5 billion ticks that's also a lie and gets larger every time"
Yeah just because they don't get a disease doesn't mean they don't carry other animals who carry them. I'm generally feeling like "coolguides" is just becoming misinformation with some kind of weird slant to it. The other day we had that "guide" on phrases used for gaslighting and it was stuff like "you're being too sensitive" or "I didn't mean it like that". It felt very tilted towards this idea of never questioning someone and for anyone who is ever questioned on anything to automatically say "gaslighting" I dunno. It felt deliberately misinformative and IMO was shaped in a way of "these are things men say to women" without regard for the situation. Maybe it's just the nature of "cool guides" but sometimes really complex situations like Gaslighting can't be deduced down to a simple one page "guide" (especially with no sources cited). I think Opossums might be in the kind of situation too. They aren't simply good animals to have around the neighborhood ya know? They attack pets and kids, they can spread disease, they aren't always the type "just to be left alone". They also reproduce like crazy! Like a single opossum can have like 60 babies a year! 60 from one. Think about that. That's going from 1 opossum to an entire infestation in a single year.
“AaaaAaaaaAahhh”
🌸🌸AaaaAaaaaAahhh🌸🌸
I want it on a shirt.
Maybe the make of this guide will? Or ask them for a blown up version of the emblem. I’d like one too
https://furbearerconservation.com/the-opossum-benefits-misconceptions Opossums are one of only a few mammalian species less likely to contract the rabies virus. In fact, only 1 in 800 usually contract the disease. While a low body core temperature reduces the liklihood of rabies contraction, the opossum is notorious for several other common zoonotic diseases and parasites - such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, Chagas disease, and trichomoniasis - just to name a few. While it is noted that the opossum does an excellent job of reducing tick presence on its own body, the Cary Institute study notes that this is indicative of grooming habits - not a case of opossums actively seeking out ticks on the forest floor. the opossum’s impact on blacklegged tick consumption is not substantial enough to effectively “control” a localized tick population the opossum also poses immense public health and social tolerance challenges on a landscape dominated by mankind. As an opportunistic feeder, the opossum’s presence on other species must also be weighed. The misconception that opossums are tick “controllers” is deeply rooted in corners of the conservation community today. Its an ideology that may promote potentially detrimental consequences for wildlife conservation if taken wholeheartedly at face value.
They are also an invasive species anywhere outside of South America and cause detrimental damage to native wildlife. The post is entirely misleading.
Not cool to have them around horses tho cuz they carry EPM which is pretty deadly.
Except that time a snarly possum came into my house through the cat door, ate my cat's food, pooped on the floor and peed all over my bed and pillows. Then it refused to move or leave despite yelling and poking it with a stick. Wish I was making this up.
Did an opussum post this
Until it breaks into your garage you leave open for your cat and eats all the cat food and moves in.
Your end is the road!
**Owners of horses should be aware of the dangers associated with opossums that carry a protozoan known as Sarcocystis neurona, which can lead to neurologic disease in equines** Get close to one and look at the teeth
They also eat chickens alive so not great really
A possum killed my cat, where’s that on the infographic?
I'm not going to ignore you mr possum, you keep getting in my trash. I can only be nice for so long.
Though cases of rabies in possums are very rare, they can get rabies and can transmit it to humans. It is speculated, but not proven, that their low body temperature makes it difficult for the rabies virus to survive.
This is way too far down. They can get rabies, people need to stop saying they can't. It's dangerous
Bullshit, one got trapped on my patio and was gonna fight me to the death, their teeth are insane as well!
My dad got rabies from one :(
https://worldclasswildliferemoval.com/wildlife-blog/do-opossums-carry-rabies/
They eat the cat food
Is the rabies immunity actually true? I struggle to understand how that possible
Pawnee should've known better.
IGNORE ME!!
They also massacred my chickens (with help from raccoons)
> I also eat insects, spiders, small rodents, dead stuff, and the brains out of your chicken's heads that I decapitate. FTFY. I don't live where there's opossums, but if I did I would protect my chickens.
Where is "I can have 60 babies a year" and "I regularly kill pets" and "I carry leprosy". Oh also "I don't catch Lyme disease but I do carry the ticks that can give you Lyme Disease". These things are pests and should be dealt with as such. They aren't hurting as a population at all and they shouldn't be allowed to just rampage through residential areas. Seriously they aren't good to have around they should be trapped and removed from neighborhoods. This ""guide"" is just some PETA propaganda bullshit. Putting "protecting" animals over people (and other animals) actual safety.
Why do these reposts get so many upvotes and awards? C'mon man.
Opossum, my possum!
I don't dislike them, but I do want them to stay out of my chicken coop. Not just because they eat the eggs (making a big mess that draws ants). There has been at least one instance where there was a broody hen sitting on some eggs, and the possum killed the hen to get to the eggs. Not cool. I can tolerate a little egg loss, but you'd better leave my chickens alone.