Opossums are one of nature’s most misunderstood animals! Many times, opossums are blamed for things that are not there fault. Given that they live just about everywhere in North America and they eat just about anything, people (including professional nuisance wildlife trappers will have an animal in their attic, put a trap out on the ground, catch an opossum and think that that is what is in their attic when it really is a raccoon, squirrel or rat.
A general rule is “opossums” live in North America and “possums” live in and around Australia.
Opossum Facts:
-They do not carry rabies
-The WILL NOT attack if cornered
-They will bite when picked up by most, but not all people 😉
-They are North America’s only animal with a prehensile tail
-They are North America’s only animal with opposable thumbs (on their back feet)
-They are North America’s only marsupial
-They typically only live about a year in the wild and rarely over two years in captivity
-They have 50 teeth, more than any other North American mammal
-And someone on Youtube told me that they are not mammals…because they are marsupials…don’t be that guy. Marsupials are mammals 🙂
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