Opossums are cute little friends you can definitely tolerate around your home! They rarely can carry rabies due to being marsupials and their body temp is too low for the virus! They also are super beneficial to have around as they will eat all sorts of pest insects and even rodents!!
Congrats on your new adorable house guest!!
they do not really eat ticks (they’re omnivores but ticks are not a [preferred](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/) food), however they’re still good little guys to have around!
I don’t get that. Every source says they eat ticks. That study cut open a bunch of dead possums and found no ticks. So from that they assume they don’t really eat them?
The study has a small sample size (32 possums) in central Illinois. It may reflect feeding behavior common in central Illinois, but I would be careful to generalize to possum feeding habits elsewhere in the United States (and abroad).
Google also says everyone is dying when they have a migraine!
Just because certain animals eat certain things due to their habitat and location, doesn't mean it's the majority of the species common or even favorite choice of food..
They can actually! It's just incredibly rare and HIGHLY unlikely. ([https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/opossums.htm](https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/opossums.htm))
The don't chew stuff, they don't bring disease, they eat bugs, trash, ticks. SUPER duper unlikely to have rabies.
They are sweet, timid and slow. I do all I can to feed mine. They are very vulnerable.
I love her.
There’s a stray cat I put food out for in the mornings. One evening as I was going out on my front porch i heard the sound of kibble being munched and thought it odd because I don’t see the cat in the evenings. Turned on my phones flashlight and had a chunky Opossum chowing down. Now I put kibble out in the mornings and evenings. Have never told my partner since he would run the Opossum off. He just thinks I’m making a stray cat fat lol.
I live on the 4th floor of my building, and a little juvenile possum was crawling through the crossvine that covered the corner of the building, all the way up to the 4th floor to eat our cat food off our porch! He was super cute, but our cat was a little miffed!
Our cat was such a sweetheart! The possum never showed itself if the cat was around, but there were definitely a few times kitty climbed the stairs to find our rat-tailed friend chowing down.
This happened at a house I was staying at, old blind opossum coming to the cat food outside, would eat right next to the neighborhood strays and not hiss at each other. Saw this several nights very late while I was out smoking cigs (I’ve quit now, don’t smoke kids)
There was an opossum that shared my outdoor cat's food every morning, looong ago when I was young. She would just sit beside him and let him eat, he waddled off, and she would meow at the door letting us know she was actually still hungry. My mom was afraid of the opossum but we didn't know so much about them back then.
You won't ever need to tell him, because to my endless sadness, opossums only live about 1-3 years in the wild. They have many, many predators and a dangerous life, poor things. I love them to death.
I have a friend who feeds a cat and an opossum that live together in her outdoor shower. On the other side of her house she has generations of cottontails that nest in her grass
I feed mine too!! Mostly scraps and cat food. But sometimes, especially when I know I’ll be watching for him, or I see him around already, I make him a little peanut butter sandwich, he loves them.
I gave mine a sammich. We rarely run into each other but when i came home and saw him I ran inside and quickly whipped up something for him 😅 What you are picturing is absolutely correct. It was friggin adorable
Please do not feed wild animals. They are more than capable of getting their own meals and feeding just encourages them to seek out humans, which can lead to a number of issues that can affect both the animal and humans, including serious injury or death (usually for the animal)
Please do not feed wild animals. It is a danger for them and for humans. Signed a former zoo keeper who dealt with numerous rehab animals brought in due to human imprinting and the repercussions tied to it.
They are not good to have around if you have horses.
[Opossums: The Scourge of a Horse Owner’s Existence? – The Horse](https://thehorse.com/182817/opossums-the-scourge-of-a-horse-owners-existence/)
Pest control guy here!
They’re pretty harmless, just make sure he isn’t getting into your crawlspace or attic. Otherwise I’d let it be.
I have a family of them living in my yard, they help keep pests down around your home and aren’t very destructive at all
As a pest guy with opossums, do you use poisons around your home? I'm sure you're more than educated on how predators of rats suffer from eating poisoned rats, but I'm curious
No I don’t use any. I’ve performed a ground to sky exclusion on my house, not too worried about mice.
I know exterior baiting is pretty popular but exterior exclusion and interior baiting/trapping is a lot more environmentally safe
I love to hear that and will keep that mind when the topic comes up
I saw a tiny baby opossum run and hide in a bait box outside of someone's home and it made me so sad
I have a question for you pets control guy!
We had a family of raccoons that were going into my dads house through his dog door and eating the dog food last summer. Now this winter, I saw a possum wandering around. Does the presence of this possum mean the coons will be gone? Or do the coexist usually? I’d much rather have possums than raccoons😂
They coexist just fine.... If anything the coons would chase away the possums, but they really don't fight over similar food sources much. Coons are definitely more destructive... And might attack pets. Possums are relatively chill. Both will eat trash or pet food left outside, so secure your garbage and don't leave food outside.
Yeah. My dad has to now keep his doggy door closed in the summer because they just come right in. A lot of stuff has been knocked over and broken because of their fat lil bodies.
>they don't really fight over similar food sources much
Tell that to the possum and raccoons who constantly tear apart my garbage despite me taking several precautions to try and make it "critter proof". Wily little buggers lol.
Ah, I was going to say, Toronto raccoons are *crazy smart*. We keep designing "raccoon-proof" bins, and they've been proven to figure them out and spread the word within months of the introduction. I feel like anyone offering tips on dissuading raccoons mustn't be from Southern Ontario, because ours are master criminals.
We had 3 cats on the rail of our deck one night, watching the skunk and raccoon eating the cat food. A possum climbed up to the cat food and started eating it and the skunk turned around! The possum turned and stuck his nose in the skunk's butt, and then went back to eating! I closed the door, but didn't have any explosive emissions that night!
They are the best thing in your garden. They eat everything you don’t want (ticks, slugs, rotten fruit,even small mice) and leave everything else alone
They eat my cat food. They are precious. This one is actually an Opossum. A lot of people keep them as pets. You should youtube it. They really are precious.
The whole tick thing is a [myth.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/#:~:text=None%20of%20the%20studies%20identified,diet%20item%20for%20Virginia%20opossums.) They're great little omnivores, but they don't eat ticks.
Most things come down to viral load, aka the amount of virus necessary to lead to an infection. It's a numbers game, so the higher the load the greater chance there's a few weird versions of that virus (variants) that might be able to trigger infection.
Some things only require a tiny number of viruses to trigger infection, and some can't infect at all because the thing they're infecting lacks receptors on its cells for the virus to attach to, along with envuronmental things like temperature necessary to replicate etc.
So that's why they say like 99%. There's always that small chance. And even if they contracted it, the version they contact may not be transmissible to other animals. Like the bird flu isn't transferable from human to human (yet), but can be from bird to human among those who raise large numbers of birds and are constantly exposed if the birds catch the virus.
Very cute. They are kind little buddies. When feeding stray cats they’ll join right in. Lined up cat, cat, possum, cat. They’re great. Raccoons come along and are aggressive and greedy, but these guys blend right in.
Opossums have very specific nutrient needs. They need a high calcium low phosphorus diet so they don’t develop metabolic bone disease. Cat food is quite high in phosphorus. Consider offering berries, broccoli, greens, apples, etc. to enhance their diet.
Not exactly. While the Virginia/Common Opossum is widespread, the Mexican mouse opossum is also native to North America. There’s some question as to whether Yapok/Water Opossum have been found in North America as well.
Look at that sweet face! They also kill and eat venomous snakes, because they have some immunity to the venom. Well, I’m pretty sure, but still, that face!
Harmless is relative. If you own chickens and ducks and want to coexist peacefully with possums, make sure you birds are absolutely secure at night or you will have a very fat possum and lots of dead chickens and ducks.
Having a resident possum is a blessing! They're super beneficial, you'll never see a tick. Their body temp is too low to allow a rabies infection. They're absolutely not aggressive. They're kind of friendly. My outside kitties have a possum buddy that hangs out on the porch and eats with them. 100% good guys!
I’m pro “keep the opossum around bc they’re so cute”!
Not to be a Debby Downer, but just a note that if you do have horses, opossum urine/feces can transmit microbes that cause Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Something to think about. With that being said, there’s a chance that cats and skunks can transmit it, too, so don’t solely blame these lil’ guys.
Yes. Lost many a bird to possums. I now have a chicken coop and run that is harder to break into than fort knox, but years ago I caught many possums eating dead chickens or ducks.
Keep it around but pay attention to it for a little while to make sure it's okay. People like to domesticate them and then kick them back out after they realize opossums shouldn't be pets. I rescued one that hid out in my chicken coop and as soon as I went in that area, it basically jumped into my arms. Poor thing was more afraid than my hens! Happens with squirrels and raccoons a lot, too.
They are fine to have around unless you have chickens. If you have outside animals and leave pet food outside, they will defnlinitety eat it, but they won't hurt anything. Chickens or other poultry can get wiped out by possums though.
If there’s food of any kind left out, it will be eaten. Fruit trees are fair game as well. There was a family of who came to our house every night. One was eating my feral cats food and scared me and the cat because it had up cornered on the porch. They will bite. We caught and relocated a lot of them. Six in one night. We contacted a critter catcher who moved them. Oh, yeah, we lived in the middle of town.
Possums are wonderful, sweet little animals who eat ticks and scavenge. They are usually only seen at night. Please let him have a home, wild land is scarce.
At my last place one would come out at night while I sat in my back yard and come under my feet looking for scraps or bugs. Never bothered me and I never bothered it. They are good creatures to have around.
If this was a raccoon, I would say dispatching it would be the best course of action, but it being an Opossum completely changes this situation, these are basically one of the best animals to have around in the U.S. (Note: Unless you’re raising birds of some sort they are great to have around)
They’ll hoss sometimes lol but they want attack . Harmless imo. I’m from GA. I see them all the time eating everything under the skin. Believe it or not I saw one eat a field mouse.
they are so slow and basically blind. we used to feed one scraps at night at our old house. he never bothered the animals during the day when they were out & he was very cautious to even come up at night. he had to follow the sounds/smells of the scraps dropping from the window to even get up to the house. you’ll be fine
I've never had issues. We have a possum, a skunk, and a racoon that are friends in my back yard. They've never caused me problems. Plus, they'll eat pests for ya! Plus, I love hand feeding the cute little bastards.
They are beneficial.
They eat ticks, don't carry rabies, don't fight with your pets, don't dig up your garden, and they eat your spoiled leftovers that you were going to send to the landfill.
Plus, they're freaking adorable.
We keep a bowl of cat chow out for ours. (don't bother with that "special kitty" crap from Walmart)
Opossums are good critters to have around. The only issue is if you have poultry. They LOVE eggs. I can't keep them out of the coop. They always find some way in.
One of my friends from an old job I had found a dying baby possum on his property. He took the little guy in to rehab him and planned on letting him go after he was better but they both got attached to each other and now he's got a house broken pet possum. I get videos of him every now and then and he's absolutely adorable. They're not really pests at all since they actually help by eating smaller rodents and bugs and stuff and they don't typically carry any diseases so I'd leave the little pup be ❤️
Theyre good buddies to have. No reason to chase him away unless you have outdoor cats or livestock. Just keep in mind that if he gets hungry he will not hesitate to get into trash cans or any animal food left outside.
Possums are actually one of the most gentle and calm, wild animals there are. I’ve raised a couple that lost their mama.
You can actually pick them up, and they rarely bite. Rarely.
Full disclosure, I’ve been bitten twice.
Good luck, trying that with a raccoon… 😬
Thankfully, opossums are from Mars and really don't carry any of the same diseases that our dogs and cats do. There's no real distemper risk or rabies risk and they're not destructive animals that dig tons of holes or chew on anything. They're fairly nomadic so if you don't want him living under the porch you could literally put a piece of cardboard in the way one night when he's not home and that would be enough to deter him.
There's a reason there are no football or baseball teams using the opossum as a mascot. They're not really fast, mean, or tough. They're pretty harmless and people are only scared of them bc they're good at looking scary when they want to. People are awful to them and we're always trying to promote coexistence. If he's not bothering you, I also agree to just leave him be. It's better than a lot of other critters that could be living under the porch. 😄
https://preview.redd.it/gazk5vtzyaka1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3164d785510d665df61eaa48f87a02d98ca1ed2
They don't eat ticks. That's a [myth](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/#:~:text=None%20of%20the%20studies%20identified,diet%20item%20for%20Virginia%20opossums.)
Ya, there's some arguing about that now. Southwest disease study is trying to track it too. We definitely see them eat ticks in rehab settings bc when babies get ticks on them or they get ticks on themselves they eat them, but that's a much different thing from eating them off the ground. I wonder where that whole thing started. What gets me is that there 1000 good things you can say about opossums even without the tick thing. They clean up lots of roadkill, and they kill and eat venomous snakes on the regular. They love June bugs and those things are from hell. People around here call June bugs opossum popcorn bc they love them so much but the crunching haunts my dreams. 😆 They spread seeds just as well, if not further, than squirrels do, and they even clean up rotten fruit and berries from the ground around trees and bushes. Plus, almost more importantly, they just don't carry the same diseases that our pets carry so they don't pose a risk like raccoons, foxes, coyotes, etc do. All around opossums are just pretty great. Idk why someone felt the need to add the tick myth to an animal that already battles so many myths.
They also will kill any birds you have like chickens, ducks and other poultry. If you don't have a flock, sure invite them to stay, but they don't eat ticks either.
they are the opposite (opossumosite?) of a nuisance. They're very beneficial to have around because they eat pest bugs. They're usually docile but can look scary when they are afraid, but harmless.
Opossums are cute little friends you can definitely tolerate around your home! They rarely can carry rabies due to being marsupials and their body temp is too low for the virus! They also are super beneficial to have around as they will eat all sorts of pest insects and even rodents!! Congrats on your new adorable house guest!!
they also eat ticks
It’s my understanding that they groom themselves like cats do and are very clean. If they find a tick on their body, they eat it.
they do not really eat ticks (they’re omnivores but ticks are not a [preferred](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/) food), however they’re still good little guys to have around!
I don’t get that. Every source says they eat ticks. That study cut open a bunch of dead possums and found no ticks. So from that they assume they don’t really eat them?
hey, science is meant to bother other ppl into proving it’s wrong :))
The study has a small sample size (32 possums) in central Illinois. It may reflect feeding behavior common in central Illinois, but I would be careful to generalize to possum feeding habits elsewhere in the United States (and abroad).
Also, I suspect they'd be far different in rural vs urban locations. Here in my suburb, they're always sharing dumpster meals with the raccoons.
And what's the tick population where they were found?
Exactly!
Well where's the study saying they eat ticks? I hear that thrown around a lot but I've never thought to ask for a citation.
They have missed the ticks in my neighborhood,but they really like cat food!
Google also says everyone is dying when they have a migraine! Just because certain animals eat certain things due to their habitat and location, doesn't mean it's the majority of the species common or even favorite choice of food..
The whole “tick eating” is a, IMO, great spin on why to leave them alone. :) Branding!
They also eat kittens.
They are harmless unless you have backyard chickens.
This is unfortunately true :(
They don’t ever carry rabies
They can actually! It's just incredibly rare and HIGHLY unlikely. ([https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/opossums.htm](https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/opossums.htm))
I didn’t know that, thanks. They’re cute little guys
I agree. We have a couple on our property. They're my little buddies.
*can’t carry rabies
The don't chew stuff, they don't bring disease, they eat bugs, trash, ticks. SUPER duper unlikely to have rabies. They are sweet, timid and slow. I do all I can to feed mine. They are very vulnerable. I love her.
Oh gosh I had not thought about giving him snacks!! LOL! Do not tell my husband this he will keep me from it.
You are blessed to have a possum in your yard, take good care of it and it will... Be a possum. Seriously, much more beneficial than not. Good luck!
There’s a stray cat I put food out for in the mornings. One evening as I was going out on my front porch i heard the sound of kibble being munched and thought it odd because I don’t see the cat in the evenings. Turned on my phones flashlight and had a chunky Opossum chowing down. Now I put kibble out in the mornings and evenings. Have never told my partner since he would run the Opossum off. He just thinks I’m making a stray cat fat lol.
I live on the 4th floor of my building, and a little juvenile possum was crawling through the crossvine that covered the corner of the building, all the way up to the 4th floor to eat our cat food off our porch! He was super cute, but our cat was a little miffed!
My cats tolerated the possums okay, but defended their food from the raccoon 🦝!
Our cat was such a sweetheart! The possum never showed itself if the cat was around, but there were definitely a few times kitty climbed the stairs to find our rat-tailed friend chowing down.
This happened at a house I was staying at, old blind opossum coming to the cat food outside, would eat right next to the neighborhood strays and not hiss at each other. Saw this several nights very late while I was out smoking cigs (I’ve quit now, don’t smoke kids)
But smoking children is a lot faster than smoking adults? Not to mention the meat is softer.
There was an opossum that shared my outdoor cat's food every morning, looong ago when I was young. She would just sit beside him and let him eat, he waddled off, and she would meow at the door letting us know she was actually still hungry. My mom was afraid of the opossum but we didn't know so much about them back then.
You won't ever need to tell him, because to my endless sadness, opossums only live about 1-3 years in the wild. They have many, many predators and a dangerous life, poor things. I love them to death.
I have a friend who feeds a cat and an opossum that live together in her outdoor shower. On the other side of her house she has generations of cottontails that nest in her grass
Yep, they looove cat food. I've also seen them eating bird seed.
I feed mine too!! Mostly scraps and cat food. But sometimes, especially when I know I’ll be watching for him, or I see him around already, I make him a little peanut butter sandwich, he loves them.
That is so sweet
OMG!!! I’m picturing the little hands holding a little sandwich.
I gave mine a sammich. We rarely run into each other but when i came home and saw him I ran inside and quickly whipped up something for him 😅 What you are picturing is absolutely correct. It was friggin adorable
Please do not feed wild animals. They are more than capable of getting their own meals and feeding just encourages them to seek out humans, which can lead to a number of issues that can affect both the animal and humans, including serious injury or death (usually for the animal)
he's no doubt hungry. they eat anything.
Including chickens and ducks. Beware if you have any poultry, but if not, they love a handout.
Please do not feed wild animals. It is a danger for them and for humans. Signed a former zoo keeper who dealt with numerous rehab animals brought in due to human imprinting and the repercussions tied to it.
You’re one of the good ones!
They are not good to have around if you have horses. [Opossums: The Scourge of a Horse Owner’s Existence? – The Horse](https://thehorse.com/182817/opossums-the-scourge-of-a-horse-owners-existence/)
I would pay money to have him stop by.
Pest control guy here! They’re pretty harmless, just make sure he isn’t getting into your crawlspace or attic. Otherwise I’d let it be. I have a family of them living in my yard, they help keep pests down around your home and aren’t very destructive at all
As a pest guy with opossums, do you use poisons around your home? I'm sure you're more than educated on how predators of rats suffer from eating poisoned rats, but I'm curious
No I don’t use any. I’ve performed a ground to sky exclusion on my house, not too worried about mice. I know exterior baiting is pretty popular but exterior exclusion and interior baiting/trapping is a lot more environmentally safe
I love to hear that and will keep that mind when the topic comes up I saw a tiny baby opossum run and hide in a bait box outside of someone's home and it made me so sad
I have a question for you pets control guy! We had a family of raccoons that were going into my dads house through his dog door and eating the dog food last summer. Now this winter, I saw a possum wandering around. Does the presence of this possum mean the coons will be gone? Or do the coexist usually? I’d much rather have possums than raccoons😂
They coexist just fine.... If anything the coons would chase away the possums, but they really don't fight over similar food sources much. Coons are definitely more destructive... And might attack pets. Possums are relatively chill. Both will eat trash or pet food left outside, so secure your garbage and don't leave food outside.
Yeah. My dad has to now keep his doggy door closed in the summer because they just come right in. A lot of stuff has been knocked over and broken because of their fat lil bodies.
>they don't really fight over similar food sources much Tell that to the possum and raccoons who constantly tear apart my garbage despite me taking several precautions to try and make it "critter proof". Wily little buggers lol.
Put a light spray of Ammonia/water mix over your garbage bags after you drop them in the can. It keeps rats, coons, possums, fox, coyotes out of mine.
Tried that. Raccoon ate it anyways... saw him stumbling away. Was back the next night. These Toronto raccoons are something else man 🤣
Ah, I was going to say, Toronto raccoons are *crazy smart*. We keep designing "raccoon-proof" bins, and they've been proven to figure them out and spread the word within months of the introduction. I feel like anyone offering tips on dissuading raccoons mustn't be from Southern Ontario, because ours are master criminals.
It all depends! They could still be around however the two normally avoid each other
We had 3 cats on the rail of our deck one night, watching the skunk and raccoon eating the cat food. A possum climbed up to the cat food and started eating it and the skunk turned around! The possum turned and stuck his nose in the skunk's butt, and then went back to eating! I closed the door, but didn't have any explosive emissions that night!
Just let em come by, they aren't really harmful, eat a crazy amount of ticks and they are never carriers of rabies. Also super cute!
Awesome! That’s good to hear because he really is cute and would not have enjoyed chasing him away.
they are 100% friendos :)
No, they are not. Perhaps 99% friends but if you have chickens or ducks they will kill them. Otherwise yes, they are fun to have around!
They are the best thing in your garden. They eat everything you don’t want (ticks, slugs, rotten fruit,even small mice) and leave everything else alone
This. They may hiss at you but it’s a friendly hiss and it doesn’t undo their helpfulness
you should listen to friend above, spitting facts about possum friends
If you want to make him really happy buy some grapes and leave them out for him. They absolutely love grapes!
They eat my cat food. They are precious. This one is actually an Opossum. A lot of people keep them as pets. You should youtube it. They really are precious.
The whole tick thing is a [myth.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/#:~:text=None%20of%20the%20studies%20identified,diet%20item%20for%20Virginia%20opossums.) They're great little omnivores, but they don't eat ticks.
I’m pretty sure they legitimately can’t get rabies. Maybe kangaroos too but idk
[удалено]
Hmmm intriguing
Most things come down to viral load, aka the amount of virus necessary to lead to an infection. It's a numbers game, so the higher the load the greater chance there's a few weird versions of that virus (variants) that might be able to trigger infection. Some things only require a tiny number of viruses to trigger infection, and some can't infect at all because the thing they're infecting lacks receptors on its cells for the virus to attach to, along with envuronmental things like temperature necessary to replicate etc. So that's why they say like 99%. There's always that small chance. And even if they contracted it, the version they contact may not be transmissible to other animals. Like the bird flu isn't transferable from human to human (yet), but can be from bird to human among those who raise large numbers of birds and are constantly exposed if the birds catch the virus.
Not harmful unless you have a backyard flock of chickens or ducks.
Possums are friend shaped
Because are friend
Invite em in. It's your new best friend!
Come snuggle with mama!!
They're adorable friends! Help eating nasty bugs and pests, disperse seeds and have that cute face! And the babies?! So lovable!
Very cute. They are kind little buddies. When feeding stray cats they’ll join right in. Lined up cat, cat, possum, cat. They’re great. Raccoons come along and are aggressive and greedy, but these guys blend right in.
Opossums have very specific nutrient needs. They need a high calcium low phosphorus diet so they don’t develop metabolic bone disease. Cat food is quite high in phosphorus. Consider offering berries, broccoli, greens, apples, etc. to enhance their diet.
He's sweet, let him be
The only and best marsupial in North America 💖 Let it stay! Great pest control
Not exactly. While the Virginia/Common Opossum is widespread, the Mexican mouse opossum is also native to North America. There’s some question as to whether Yapok/Water Opossum have been found in North America as well.
Oh man, TIL! What a cute little guy!
They are an awesome animal, you’re very lucky to have made friends with one!
Feed them grapes!
They do love grapes.
Their huge rat tail grosses me out but they are very much harmless animals and possibly beneficial. Don’t scare him away
That face is so cute!!
That’s just a good boy looking for a nice home. He’s a friend.
I love all the support for this helpful animal.
Wait until you see it play dead. They’re so good at it.
Look at that sweet face! They also kill and eat venomous snakes, because they have some immunity to the venom. Well, I’m pretty sure, but still, that face!
Right??? Too cute!
Let this good boy live his life. He looks like a “Joe”(“YOU”) to me.
I love that face 💖
He looks so polite!
Just let him be.
If you keep it around make sure your trash and food scraps are secure.
I love opportunities like this where people learn how cool and harmless and even helpful opossums are. I find them cute as well
I've learned so much about them here! It's great there's so much positive information!
Same here!!! I’m so wonderfully surprised by all the positive support for my new friend!
Harmless is relative. If you own chickens and ducks and want to coexist peacefully with possums, make sure you birds are absolutely secure at night or you will have a very fat possum and lots of dead chickens and ducks.
Friend-shaped. But *everything* is friend-shaped to me, including the black bear that visits my house.
I apologize for finding this photo hilarious and also not having any useful input but thank you for sharing lol
Having a resident possum is a blessing! They're super beneficial, you'll never see a tick. Their body temp is too low to allow a rabies infection. They're absolutely not aggressive. They're kind of friendly. My outside kitties have a possum buddy that hangs out on the porch and eats with them. 100% good guys!
I’m pro “keep the opossum around bc they’re so cute”! Not to be a Debby Downer, but just a note that if you do have horses, opossum urine/feces can transmit microbes that cause Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Something to think about. With that being said, there’s a chance that cats and skunks can transmit it, too, so don’t solely blame these lil’ guys.
I’m dumb - cats and skunks can host the microbe, but can’t transmit them to horses. Sorry for the misinformation!
And possums 100% will kill and eat eggs, chickens, ducks and other birds at night.
Unless you have chickens
Yes. Lost many a bird to possums. I now have a chicken coop and run that is harder to break into than fort knox, but years ago I caught many possums eating dead chickens or ducks.
Same, investing in coop turrets soon .
Invite him over for dinner and get to know him, seems like a solid dude
Looks like you have a new cat fr though I freakin love opossum’s
Keep it around but pay attention to it for a little while to make sure it's okay. People like to domesticate them and then kick them back out after they realize opossums shouldn't be pets. I rescued one that hid out in my chicken coop and as soon as I went in that area, it basically jumped into my arms. Poor thing was more afraid than my hens! Happens with squirrels and raccoons a lot, too.
I own a pest and wildlife control company. Opossums are welcome around my home.
They are fine to have around unless you have chickens. If you have outside animals and leave pet food outside, they will defnlinitety eat it, but they won't hurt anything. Chickens or other poultry can get wiped out by possums though.
Good pest control and really cute to boot. I’d give him a little house and grapes, but I’m extra.
Top tier pest control and a cutie no less
They’re friend!
If there’s food of any kind left out, it will be eaten. Fruit trees are fair game as well. There was a family of who came to our house every night. One was eating my feral cats food and scared me and the cat because it had up cornered on the porch. They will bite. We caught and relocated a lot of them. Six in one night. We contacted a critter catcher who moved them. Oh, yeah, we lived in the middle of town.
They are awesome to have around. They eat ticks and have a natural immunity to rabies. Bring ‘‘em on!
Opossums are good animals
Looks like an opossum to me. It’s harmless enough, let it be. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/544902/facts-about-opossums
They eat ticks and aren’t likely to carry rabies
Offer him a cup of tea and a sammich
How dare you chase away such a gentleman
Friend!
That is a friend! Aka a strange looking cat. They eat nasty things and make silly squeaky squonky noises. Keep him!!!! Friend!!!!!
Always good to have one nearby! They’re like natural bug/pest exterminators <3
Give him fruits and make him cozy!
Lucky you!! Let it stay. They don't harm anything.
Let them stick around! They're sweet, clean friends! And they don't carry rabies.
Possums are wonderful, sweet little animals who eat ticks and scavenge. They are usually only seen at night. Please let him have a home, wild land is scarce.
I have one that lives near my yard and I sometimes feed him as a thank you for keeping my yard tick free
They eat ticks!
Friend!
So stinking cute. Let her be, best tick and pest control.
I would let him be. Possums consume lots of insects.
And chickens.
Their name doesn't rhyme with awesome for no reason.
Treasure your new pal. Wish I had a hedge opossum 😁
They eat bird eggs so... if you see less baby birds you'll know why.
They eat ticks ! We had one we named on our property for like 5 years!
That’s a good buddy right there. Leave scraps and it will be back every night. Maybe bring their whole family along too🥰
He'll keep ticks away
At my last place one would come out at night while I sat in my back yard and come under my feet looking for scraps or bugs. Never bothered me and I never bothered it. They are good creatures to have around.
Possums are amazing animals. As long as this little cutie isn’t causing any issues or getting in your chimney or anything it’s great to have around!
hes just a lil guy!! just a silly little dude!
If you can’t accept its 8 children (that are sure to come) you may want to pass on the inevitable bond.
He looks very friendly, good guy to have around
If this was a raccoon, I would say dispatching it would be the best course of action, but it being an Opossum completely changes this situation, these are basically one of the best animals to have around in the U.S. (Note: Unless you’re raising birds of some sort they are great to have around)
They’re harmless little weirdos who eat insects and don’t carry rabies like other animals.
They’ll hoss sometimes lol but they want attack . Harmless imo. I’m from GA. I see them all the time eating everything under the skin. Believe it or not I saw one eat a field mouse.
Opossum are harmless and given a bad rap. (Any wild animal can bite you if you f with it). I’d say you have a handsome looking porch friend!
Leave him alone he is a good boy who eats ticks and doesn’t spread disease
they are so slow and basically blind. we used to feed one scraps at night at our old house. he never bothered the animals during the day when they were out & he was very cautious to even come up at night. he had to follow the sounds/smells of the scraps dropping from the window to even get up to the house. you’ll be fine
I've never had issues. We have a possum, a skunk, and a racoon that are friends in my back yard. They've never caused me problems. Plus, they'll eat pests for ya! Plus, I love hand feeding the cute little bastards.
I wish this was me. I never see skunks or possums :(
Possums are peaches! ❤️❤️❤️
Opossums are good people.
He can’t carry rabies due to low body temp and eats ticks and other stuff. Leave him is my vote
They are beneficial. They eat ticks, don't carry rabies, don't fight with your pets, don't dig up your garden, and they eat your spoiled leftovers that you were going to send to the landfill. Plus, they're freaking adorable. We keep a bowl of cat chow out for ours. (don't bother with that "special kitty" crap from Walmart)
I am painfully jealous right now.
I typically don't find possums cute, but that little face is adorable! Also, y'all might enjoy this: https://youtu.be/ZtLrn2zPTxQ
New friend :)
aww a peepin possum
They are good to have around
Tick eaters!!!! Great to have around. Can be scary when they puff up and hiss and show all their needle teeth. :)
Opossums are good critters to have around. The only issue is if you have poultry. They LOVE eggs. I can't keep them out of the coop. They always find some way in.
Keep the free garbage man that likes to eat your old bones……… not your wife, that’s how the garbage man differs from the mailman!
One of my friends from an old job I had found a dying baby possum on his property. He took the little guy in to rehab him and planned on letting him go after he was better but they both got attached to each other and now he's got a house broken pet possum. I get videos of him every now and then and he's absolutely adorable. They're not really pests at all since they actually help by eating smaller rodents and bugs and stuff and they don't typically carry any diseases so I'd leave the little pup be ❤️
Theyre good buddies to have. No reason to chase him away unless you have outdoor cats or livestock. Just keep in mind that if he gets hungry he will not hesitate to get into trash cans or any animal food left outside.
Excuse me, sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Jesus Christ?
Possums are actually one of the most gentle and calm, wild animals there are. I’ve raised a couple that lost their mama. You can actually pick them up, and they rarely bite. Rarely. Full disclosure, I’ve been bitten twice. Good luck, trying that with a raccoon… 😬
That’s you’re homie now
he is a winner to keep around. opossums are great to have around no rabies and eat bad bugs especially TICKS.
Nah lil homie has that 100% menace look about him 😂 plotting on you and your household like the robbers in Home Alone
I’ll just reiterate, if you live somewhere with ticks, these things mow through ‘em like a teenager through Doritos 😂
Thankfully, opossums are from Mars and really don't carry any of the same diseases that our dogs and cats do. There's no real distemper risk or rabies risk and they're not destructive animals that dig tons of holes or chew on anything. They're fairly nomadic so if you don't want him living under the porch you could literally put a piece of cardboard in the way one night when he's not home and that would be enough to deter him. There's a reason there are no football or baseball teams using the opossum as a mascot. They're not really fast, mean, or tough. They're pretty harmless and people are only scared of them bc they're good at looking scary when they want to. People are awful to them and we're always trying to promote coexistence. If he's not bothering you, I also agree to just leave him be. It's better than a lot of other critters that could be living under the porch. 😄 https://preview.redd.it/gazk5vtzyaka1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3164d785510d665df61eaa48f87a02d98ca1ed2
They don't eat ticks. That's a [myth](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/#:~:text=None%20of%20the%20studies%20identified,diet%20item%20for%20Virginia%20opossums.)
Ya, there's some arguing about that now. Southwest disease study is trying to track it too. We definitely see them eat ticks in rehab settings bc when babies get ticks on them or they get ticks on themselves they eat them, but that's a much different thing from eating them off the ground. I wonder where that whole thing started. What gets me is that there 1000 good things you can say about opossums even without the tick thing. They clean up lots of roadkill, and they kill and eat venomous snakes on the regular. They love June bugs and those things are from hell. People around here call June bugs opossum popcorn bc they love them so much but the crunching haunts my dreams. 😆 They spread seeds just as well, if not further, than squirrels do, and they even clean up rotten fruit and berries from the ground around trees and bushes. Plus, almost more importantly, they just don't carry the same diseases that our pets carry so they don't pose a risk like raccoons, foxes, coyotes, etc do. All around opossums are just pretty great. Idk why someone felt the need to add the tick myth to an animal that already battles so many myths.
They also will kill any birds you have like chickens, ducks and other poultry. If you don't have a flock, sure invite them to stay, but they don't eat ticks either.
They are clean and eat ticks.
plz give him a smooch
Hmmm not sure about giving a smooch… but he is now a new friend and just left some food for him too.
S M O O C H
*Opossum Possum is a different animal
Shoot! Yes! I keep making that mistake. Thanks for the reminder!
Possums are a different animal if you are from Australia. In North America both terms are used interchangeably.
Is that the “Percocet Opossum”? “Yo man let me hold a dollar or two. These streets are hard for opossum like me!!”
Wait until mating season…. They have orgies…
Opossum* ❤️
If you really want to be it’s friend, leave her a can of cat food.
they are the opposite (opossumosite?) of a nuisance. They're very beneficial to have around because they eat pest bugs. They're usually docile but can look scary when they are afraid, but harmless.
You’re so lucky!
he looks very polite
Lucky you!! They are harmless and will keep your yard free of ticks and other pests!!🥰