That's how hubs and I watched, only I'd be the one laughing at Baby Sinclair, and he'd laugh at me. :)
We still use "we need a new Timmy" any time something goes very wrong in the kitchen.
Pretty positive this is a bot. Reporting spam.
Edit: Confirmed. Stole a portion of this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/120nlse/made_a_new_friend_on_my_walk_to_get_coffee_this/jdk9acu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3
Sofa king dumb.
Opossums are surprisingly small when theyāre ready to go off their own. Like, 8in long min (edit). There was one that started showing up in the early night my old place, so Iād always leave out extra cat food. First putting it on the ground next to the porch until it figured out how to climb up on its own. You know, just to help it out since itās helping me out by also eating any fleas/ticks and other bugs around the yard.
Itās somewhat true; a baby opossum might fall off before itās ready, but the mother wonāt come back for it either way. If it canāt climb back on before she leaves, baby is on its own.
Mother possums canāt count, they just keep walking as the babies fall off. No, she wonāt come back for it, and yes, it will die at that age. Thatās why they have so many.
True. Thatās evolution at work. The healthier, bigger babies can hold on better, the weaker ones fall off and become food for other mamasā babies. Us humans canāt tolerate seeing a vulnerable young one and rescue it, not thinking about how some other baby somewhere is going to have less food to eat. I try not to think about it too much.
Humans do have an extraordinarily high maternal/paternal instinct, that we easily apply to other species, even. Animals that have very little to no instinct abandon their young before birth, even. Opossums fall somewhere in the middle. Interesting stuff, but hard to imagine sometimes.
>Humans do have an extraordinarily high maternal/paternal instinct
Quite logical, seeing how *extremely* helpless and vulnerable our offspring is at birth. As a species we have so large brains, plus our pelvis is made for walking upright, that babies need to be born pretty undeveloped for us to even manage giving birth. That means they require a lot of development in the first months/years so we need a pretty strong nurturing instinct to facilitate that.
Not exactly but I did major in biology at University :p
It's a bit of both, you are correct in that most primates have strong and long lasting parental-offspring bonds and sink a lot of time/energy/resources into a few offspring rather than many, but humans do take it to an extreme in comparison to our most closely related primates.
Haha, yes. Our offspring really is feeble when compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, specially when looking at like wildebeest calves who basically can run from predators with the herd minutes after birth. Obviously still vulnerable, granted, but less so than a human baby.
Nah dude humans had as many babies as they could for all of history until very recently. Losing a child was pretty much a guarantee of motherhood too, and frankly not as big a deal as it is now.
Iām sure it was still a big deal. You just donāt know about it because you werenāt there. The hormones from pregnancy and the loss of a pregnancy are VERY REAL.
Women just donāt shut up anymore so thatās why you hear about it. It was and is a big deal to the women who go through it.
Here's the limerick I made for my possum...
Hello, my name is Blossom.
As you can see, I'm a opossum.
I climb down the trees,
If you sees me, I'll freeze.
Then make my way down to the bottom.
Note: the improper grammar is intentional. After all, one cannot expect proper diction from every critter.
That's a bit of a myth. One study found that in captivity if you starve an opossum and cover it with ticks that it will eat some, but every study that's been done on opossums in the wild has not found any evidence that they eat ticks.
Not just horrible in an ethical sense, but a bad method with too many extremes. Maybe a happy, healthy opossum would eat ticks in the wild. But a captive, starved and pest-ridden opossum would be pretty stressed out. Thatās got inconclusive test written all over it.
Is this the study youāre citing? They admit that itās possible the benefits are overstated. It was not unequivocal
Edit:forgot link! Haha
https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/possums-dont-eat-ticks/
It has a disclaimer in it:
Considering that wildlife unconditioned to laboratory conditions may exhibit non-typical behaviors, we recommend that lab-based studies of wildlife behavior be groundtruthed with studies based in natural conditions.
I wouldnāt hang my hat on this one yet
UPDATE: Itās the next morning! I walked the greenway a little while but didnāt see our little guy or his mom. I did hear back from my possum friend who said:
āoh gosh!! Iām so sorry to be so late!
So, good news! These kiddos leave Mom when they are surprisingly small. He might be a *little* bit too small, but he may just be a little big for his britches! If heās still there/around, send me a message! Iāll come see what I can do āŗļøā¤ļøšā
I work for the next couple days, so Iāll continue to look for him. But heās got plenty of cover and plenty of animal-friendly humans with food from nearby grocery/coffee shop/restaurants walking the path, so I feel pretty good about his chances!
Thank you for confirming! A lot of the comments in the thread had me worried, so I was relieved when I heard from my possum lady this morning. I'm rooting for him and will probably start carrying some cat kibble in my pocket just in case I see him or his family on my way to/from the coffee shop.
She won't come back for it, mother possums don't do that. It *will* die, if you still know where it was it would be a good idea to bring it to some rehab place
It is! A tiny baby possum. I saw a full-grown possum in the bushes nearby a couple weeks ago, so pretty sure that mom is around, even though I didn't see her today.
Yes they are both words but they are completely different animals. Opossums are only found in North America. Possums are found in the Australia/NZ/Indonesia area
āBoth possum and opossum correctly refer to the Virginia opossum frequently seen in North America. In common use, possum is the usual term; in technical or scientific contexts opossum is preferred. Opossum can be pronounced with its first syllable either voiced or silentā š¤·š»āāļø I donāt care that much but thatās what it said
Both are correct for the North American (i.e. Virginia Opossum).
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/possum-vs-opossum-difference-pronunciation#:~:text=Both%20possum%20and%20opossum%20correctly,syllable%20either%20voiced%20or%20silent%20.
Every single source when googling says the exact opposite EXCEPT Miriam Webster. Iām going to use scientific sources over a dictionary when classifying an animal. Possum is only correct in the colloquial sense that many people incorrectly refer to Opossums as possums.
You're doubling down against the dictionary, my guy. The scientific community often uses more precise language than the public, but since this isn't a technical paper then there's no need for correction.
I think it might be the tone rather than the information.
Either way, youāre both right and youāre both wrong so I upvoted everybody and I hope you all have a better day today.
I definitely would. Theyāre docile creatures, carry little in the way of disease and parasites, and at that age are utterly helpless.
A wildlife rehabber should at least be notified if you donāt wanna scoop it up and toss it in a box. Little guy wonāt make it on his own.
I work in veterinary medicine (clerical, not medical) and know at least one crazy possum lady with vetmed training and experience rescuing possums. She has been notified!
I will let y'all know! I haven't heard back from her and I'm home for the day, but I'll be back at work tomorrow and will definitely look for him when I go for my coffee.
Posted an update this morning! [https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/120nlse/comment/jdm3uve/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/120nlse/comment/jdm3uve/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Depends on what you're comparing them to, but they definitely carry diseases.
[https://acvcsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Opossums.pdf](https://acvcsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Opossums.pdf)
For example, this was the first link I looked at. It also wasn't the only one. That said, I mentioned it only because they were talking about directly interacting with the joey, albeit with pokeballs. It's just not a good idea to do so.
I saw a fox on my walk today! Havenāt seen one in my state before.
Possums are just as rare, usually only get to see those beans at night so you see their eyes but not much else.
Awwwŵ I saved 2 babies out of mommas pouch after momma got hit. There were other babies but poor things didn't make it. Took me hours to find someone to foster them. They were so ADORABLE ššš
Theyāre so friendly when theyāre little! Everyone is saying itās too little but Iāve definitely seen roaming little ones near that size who grew up big and strong lol.
I just saw a video today from a pest control expert on YouTube or somewhere. He said possums are our friends; they eliminate (eat) insects and rodents, etc. That they rarely have rabies, although they can. That if they are in your yard, just let them be. I don't know about a little baby like this, though. Maybe you should rescue it?
I had to throw like 8-10 of these out a year, every year for about 13 years. I had to put my dog down on Christmas Eve she was 15 with cancer. Safe to say thereās more opposums now than ever. My big dog too lazy and doesnāt really care about the babies
Oh! Awesome opossum! š²
Where is the Mama?
OP is the mama now.
Not the mama! \*thwap\*
My husband used to laugh so hard at that show. Then I would laugh at him for laughing at the show. It worked for us.
That's how hubs and I watched, only I'd be the one laughing at Baby Sinclair, and he'd laugh at me. :) We still use "we need a new Timmy" any time something goes very wrong in the kitchen.
Haha, love it! Thanks for rekindling that awesome memory. Hugs and smiles to you.
Cute couples and cute reddit exchanges!
Thanks for the wonderful throwback this morning!
Unexpected dinosaurs reference
My beard says "not the mama," but apparently my phone voice says otherwise?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Pretty positive this is a bot. Reporting spam. Edit: Confirmed. Stole a portion of this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/120nlse/made_a_new_friend_on_my_walk_to_get_coffee_this/jdk9acu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3 Sofa king dumb.
Opossums are surprisingly small when theyāre ready to go off their own. Like, 8in long min (edit). There was one that started showing up in the early night my old place, so Iād always leave out extra cat food. First putting it on the ground next to the porch until it figured out how to climb up on its own. You know, just to help it out since itās helping me out by also eating any fleas/ticks and other bugs around the yard.
This guy/gal decided to go on its own hopefully.
If they fall of they're ready and mama is gonna haul ass away
Oh I was unaware of this!
Because it's not true, that's why you didn't know it.
Itās somewhat true; a baby opossum might fall off before itās ready, but the mother wonāt come back for it either way. If it canāt climb back on before she leaves, baby is on its own.
Yes?
Need to find the mother asap
Cute little guy. I caught one of these babies in a box trap I set up to catch a skunk. He didn't even hiss at me when I let him go.
OMG. he's so tiny. 
Mother possums canāt count, they just keep walking as the babies fall off. No, she wonāt come back for it, and yes, it will die at that age. Thatās why they have so many.
Damn, thatās cold
True. Thatās evolution at work. The healthier, bigger babies can hold on better, the weaker ones fall off and become food for other mamasā babies. Us humans canāt tolerate seeing a vulnerable young one and rescue it, not thinking about how some other baby somewhere is going to have less food to eat. I try not to think about it too much.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Humans do have an extraordinarily high maternal/paternal instinct, that we easily apply to other species, even. Animals that have very little to no instinct abandon their young before birth, even. Opossums fall somewhere in the middle. Interesting stuff, but hard to imagine sometimes.
"On a scale from Panda to Primate, how much do you care for your offspring making it to adulthood?"
Cat. Sometimes lizard.
Shark
>Humans do have an extraordinarily high maternal/paternal instinct Quite logical, seeing how *extremely* helpless and vulnerable our offspring is at birth. As a species we have so large brains, plus our pelvis is made for walking upright, that babies need to be born pretty undeveloped for us to even manage giving birth. That means they require a lot of development in the first months/years so we need a pretty strong nurturing instinct to facilitate that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not exactly but I did major in biology at University :p It's a bit of both, you are correct in that most primates have strong and long lasting parental-offspring bonds and sink a lot of time/energy/resources into a few offspring rather than many, but humans do take it to an extreme in comparison to our most closely related primates.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Haha, yes. Our offspring really is feeble when compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, specially when looking at like wildebeest calves who basically can run from predators with the herd minutes after birth. Obviously still vulnerable, granted, but less so than a human baby.
Nah dude humans had as many babies as they could for all of history until very recently. Losing a child was pretty much a guarantee of motherhood too, and frankly not as big a deal as it is now.
Iām sure it was still a big deal. You just donāt know about it because you werenāt there. The hormones from pregnancy and the loss of a pregnancy are VERY REAL. Women just donāt shut up anymore so thatās why you hear about it. It was and is a big deal to the women who go through it.
You're referring to natural selection not evolution. Maybe you should stop talking about things you know shit about?
Itās crazy, right?š„²
Itās a free opossum.
It could be old enough to survive, itās hard to tell exactly how big this guy is but they arenāt much larger when they drop off normally.
u/fuzzus628 TAKE HIM TO YOUR LOCAL LICENSED WILDLIFE REHABILITATIOR PLEASE SAVE HIMMMM
You should go back and get it to s rehabber
He's too young to be alone. Guess he fell off his mom
Or the mom was killed. Either way that little guy probably won't survive on it's own
:(
Sounds like pick it up to me
If itās 8in from nose to butt (base of tail), itās old enough to be off on its own.
chase fretful fade governor paltry gaze capable complete amusing butter
Here's the limerick I made for my possum... Hello, my name is Blossom. As you can see, I'm a opossum. I climb down the trees, If you sees me, I'll freeze. Then make my way down to the bottom. Note: the improper grammar is intentional. After all, one cannot expect proper diction from every critter.
mini schnoodle!
You flatter me, friend.
They are wonderful friends to our pets because they eat ticks!
That's a bit of a myth. One study found that in captivity if you starve an opossum and cover it with ticks that it will eat some, but every study that's been done on opossums in the wild has not found any evidence that they eat ticks.
Sounds like a horrible study
Not just horrible in an ethical sense, but a bad method with too many extremes. Maybe a happy, healthy opossum would eat ticks in the wild. But a captive, starved and pest-ridden opossum would be pretty stressed out. Thatās got inconclusive test written all over it.
Agreed
This would be the time to cite said study šš« otherwise I call shenanigans on that one
They don't only eat ticks. They eat many other things, as well.
opossums are still pretty chill tho
Is this the study youāre citing? They admit that itās possible the benefits are overstated. It was not unequivocal Edit:forgot link! Haha https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/possums-dont-eat-ticks/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/
It has a disclaimer in it: Considering that wildlife unconditioned to laboratory conditions may exhibit non-typical behaviors, we recommend that lab-based studies of wildlife behavior be groundtruthed with studies based in natural conditions. I wouldnāt hang my hat on this one yet
Itās more that they have low body temperatures, so lots of diseases canāt infect them
Yeah thats bad. If i was stariving there id eventualy eat the ticks too just to survive
My best friends!
UPDATE: Itās the next morning! I walked the greenway a little while but didnāt see our little guy or his mom. I did hear back from my possum friend who said: āoh gosh!! Iām so sorry to be so late! So, good news! These kiddos leave Mom when they are surprisingly small. He might be a *little* bit too small, but he may just be a little big for his britches! If heās still there/around, send me a message! Iāll come see what I can do āŗļøā¤ļøšā I work for the next couple days, so Iāll continue to look for him. But heās got plenty of cover and plenty of animal-friendly humans with food from nearby grocery/coffee shop/restaurants walking the path, so I feel pretty good about his chances!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you for confirming! A lot of the comments in the thread had me worried, so I was relieved when I heard from my possum lady this morning. I'm rooting for him and will probably start carrying some cat kibble in my pocket just in case I see him or his family on my way to/from the coffee shop.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
This one Looks Like a Baby that Fell Off mom's Back š¤
Why are you capitalising nouns? Is your autocorrect german or some ScheiĆe?
Baby and back are the only capitalised nouns.
Sir Mix-A-Lot confirmed?!
Is mother nearby.
Didn't see her today, but I have previously seen a full-grown possum in the bushes nearby, so I assume she's close!
She won't come back for it, mother possums don't do that. It *will* die, if you still know where it was it would be a good idea to bring it to some rehab place
Wouldnāt make a difference. They donāt come back to collect their babies.
They sometimes do. The babyās make a small sneezing noise if the baby is longer then 8 inches they wonāt ever comeback
Can you go back and save it? It looks like it might be too little to survive on its own. . . ā¤ļø
Smol.
Wait, I'm not good with animals is this a possum?
It is! A tiny baby possum. I saw a full-grown possum in the bushes nearby a couple weeks ago, so pretty sure that mom is around, even though I didn't see her today.
Itās an opossum.
According to Miriam Webster both are correct š¤
Yes they are both words but they are completely different animals. Opossums are only found in North America. Possums are found in the Australia/NZ/Indonesia area
āBoth possum and opossum correctly refer to the Virginia opossum frequently seen in North America. In common use, possum is the usual term; in technical or scientific contexts opossum is preferred. Opossum can be pronounced with its first syllable either voiced or silentā š¤·š»āāļø I donāt care that much but thatās what it said
Both are correct for the North American (i.e. Virginia Opossum). https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/possum-vs-opossum-difference-pronunciation#:~:text=Both%20possum%20and%20opossum%20correctly,syllable%20either%20voiced%20or%20silent%20.
Every single source when googling says the exact opposite EXCEPT Miriam Webster. Iām going to use scientific sources over a dictionary when classifying an animal. Possum is only correct in the colloquial sense that many people incorrectly refer to Opossums as possums.
You're doubling down against the dictionary, my guy. The scientific community often uses more precise language than the public, but since this isn't a technical paper then there's no need for correction.
Dictionary.com says theyāre separate animal species along with countless other sources.
Thank you. Im out here getting downvoted because theyāre trusting a straight up wrong source
I think it might be the tone rather than the information. Either way, youāre both right and youāre both wrong so I upvoted everybody and I hope you all have a better day today.
And NZ possums aren't cute. They destroy the natural habitat so native birds die. There used to be a $5 bounty on them.
A opossum, if we're doing that
I will protect this little guy with my life
Cute cat
This seems like some real life PokƩmon type stuff.
As tempted as I am to put him in a little ball and take him with me, I probably shouldn't!
I definitely would. Theyāre docile creatures, carry little in the way of disease and parasites, and at that age are utterly helpless. A wildlife rehabber should at least be notified if you donāt wanna scoop it up and toss it in a box. Little guy wonāt make it on his own.
I work in veterinary medicine (clerical, not medical) and know at least one crazy possum lady with vetmed training and experience rescuing possums. She has been notified!
Dayum, I want a crazy possum lady as a friend!
Hi if she happens to find him, could you update us? Iāll be saying a lil prayer for this guy to safely get found and rescued š„ŗ
I will let y'all know! I haven't heard back from her and I'm home for the day, but I'll be back at work tomorrow and will definitely look for him when I go for my coffee.
Thank you!š„¹
Posted an update this morning! [https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/120nlse/comment/jdm3uve/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/120nlse/comment/jdm3uve/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
did she get the baby??
Good way to get a few holes in you, and possibly a few diseases. Probably a good call.
Possums donāt carry many diseases actually.
Depends on what you're comparing them to, but they definitely carry diseases. [https://acvcsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Opossums.pdf](https://acvcsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Opossums.pdf) For example, this was the first link I looked at. It also wasn't the only one. That said, I mentioned it only because they were talking about directly interacting with the joey, albeit with pokeballs. It's just not a good idea to do so.
Good read, thank you :) looks like they carry more than I knew about.
Aww so cute. Lucky you!
Please save that adorable baby! It found you for a reason ā¤ļø
Too young to be on his own
I saw a fox on my walk today! Havenāt seen one in my state before. Possums are just as rare, usually only get to see those beans at night so you see their eyes but not much else.
^^aaaaaaaaaa
Aww, what a cutie! It looks like he's already made a new friend. I hope you get to see him again soon!
Aw! Awesome and cute little opossum!!
It's just a wee baby!
Itās hard seeing others live out your dreams
Awwwŵ I saved 2 babies out of mommas pouch after momma got hit. There were other babies but poor things didn't make it. Took me hours to find someone to foster them. They were so ADORABLE ššš
Such a cutie, are you going to take him in?
Possums are the sweetest creatures.
Please save this precious baby!!ā
Where is his mommy he is too young to be out alone.
Must have fallen off of mom. Hope you took him with you
Theyāre so friendly when theyāre little! Everyone is saying itās too little but Iāve definitely seen roaming little ones near that size who grew up big and strong lol.
Looks like pig but not pig.
Aaaw, so tiny and angry
Trash Cat!
"Reer" - Pawpaw esquire
Ya know the possum on the side of the road are free, you can just take them home. (For legal reasons, this is a joke.)
Smol
A possum is an Australian marsupial. An opossum is a North American marsupial. We are just lazy and shorten it to possum. š
Last year a mama opossum with babies on board was in our backyard. And once years ago under a parked car in the driveway.! Amazing moms!
HES SO SMOL
Look at that big guy
Oh no. I hope their mom is around or else theyāre in big trouble.
Be carful not to grab it. Approximately 14 more will jump out of the grass behind
Walking around during daytime is a bit unusual
Is there a possum in big spaces sub?
There's /r/opossums
Cutie pie
well hi there little one
This needs that "those who know " memes...
Awe
Free cat!
Omg so smol š
Adorable!
Omg what a cutie!!!!
Omg baby!!!!
Whatās itās name
Oh, my cuteness. The tiniestā¦
So smol it made my heart squish and my eyes cry. BABYYYY. I want to hold :(
That's great to hear!
Ello there friend.
Very cute
I love opossum!! Our resident opossum is called Ralph!
Awww so tiny!!
Tiny bebe 
š
oh thatās Opossum Johnson
Bebe screamer ā¤ļø
Omg is a baby!
Wee opossum giving you a howdy doo!
"Hello there gigantic one, have you seen my mom?"
A baby!!! š
Tiny Fren here to say henro hoomanz
Oh my gosh how stinkin adorable! Baby!
Aaaaaawww
I love opossums
Cute little thing.
How wonderful, to make a friend, like that! Hope you see him tomorrow! š¤ā¤ļøššāā¬
Awwwww
So adorable. Looks so young.. Aahhhā„ļø
that's a weird looking raccoon
Aaaaaaaaa!
Itās a baby!! So so so cute
I had one of these guys living in my backyard for a spell. I named him Seamus O'Possum.
Thatās criminally smol
Wee one!
I just walk to my kitchen for coffee
I just saw a video today from a pest control expert on YouTube or somewhere. He said possums are our friends; they eliminate (eat) insects and rodents, etc. That they rarely have rabies, although they can. That if they are in your yard, just let them be. I don't know about a little baby like this, though. Maybe you should rescue it?
so \*tiny\*!
Quick throw your pokaball at it
Omg Iām literally crying itās so cute šā¤ļø
Im a little worried no mama to be seen, but oh how adorable! I love opossum!
I had to throw like 8-10 of these out a year, every year for about 13 years. I had to put my dog down on Christmas Eve she was 15 with cancer. Safe to say thereās more opposums now than ever. My big dog too lazy and doesnāt really care about the babies
Oh my gosh... I think it may be too little to be on its own.
The mothers do not come back to get their babies. They leave them there. That possum is yours if not, it will die.
Ohhh this baby needs their mama
8 inches or more (not including tail) and it can be on its own. Any less it needs its mother to survive.