Have you ever seen an opossum in your yard? They may look a little bit creepy to you if you have.
Their tails are almost rat-like, they have opposable thumbs, and you may have even jumped when you saw one.
We often only see them at night, especially in the middle of the road as we are driving.
As we come to a screeching halt, trying to avoid hitting one, we often wonder just what they are doing.
Opossums may look a bit scary to us but in fact, they really aren’t frightening at all. They are also probably much more afraid of humans than we are of them.
Opossums are also known for “playing possum” when confronted by a person. This means that they will mimic the appearance of a dead animal.
It’s an actual physiological response that happens when they get scared. They do it to scare off predators and to make them think they are dead.
Opossums are actually even more interesting than that. One of their amazing traits is that they love eating a tiny predator that can cause us harm- ticks.
Scientists found that opossums were one of the best animals to get rid of ticks, as they are very meticulous when it comes to their fur.
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When ticks jump on them, they will lick them off and then swallow them. While that may be gross to us, it is also a very helpful trait.
Ticks can carry Lyme disease, so the less we have to worry about, the better.
Scientists were also able to study the bowel movements of opossums. In doing so, they determined that a single opossum can actually eat roughly 5,000 ticks a season.
While they may not eat every single tick that lands on them, scientists said that about 90 percent of all ticks do end up getting swallowed.
This means that opossums are actually doing their part to keep the spread of Lyme disease to a minimum.
So if you happen to run into an opossum in the wild, don’t get scared. They are wonderful little animals who deserve to live just as much as any creature.
Plus, they are doing good in the world!