This animal is often misunderstood due to their appearance, can actually provide numerous benefits to your property by consuming pests and overripe fruit.
Opossums, nocturnal marsupials often found throughout the United States, may not be the most visually appealing creatures. Their ghoulish appearance and jagged teeth might unsettle people, especially children. Despite their seemingly rodent-like appearance, opossums are related to kangaroos and platypuses.
Many people dislike having opossums on their property, but these misunderstood animals can be quite beneficial. Opossums are well-known for “playing dead,” a tactic they use to deter predators. The American Museum of Natural History even mentioned them in a Twitter post, suggesting that they deserve an Oscar for their performance.
According to the museum, “When under threat, [the opossum] falls on its side, curls its body, and may supplement the act with open-mouth drooling and an excretion of feces in hopes of deterring hungry predators.” This behavior is an involuntary response rather than a conscious choice, similar to vomiting after consuming spoiled food.
As the opossum “plays dead,” it collapses to the ground, lips curled to reveal its sharp teeth, body stiffening as if in rigor mortis, and toes curling. Additionally, the animal emits a foul “dead” odor from defensive glands near its anus.
Despite their intimidating appearance, opossums pose no real threat to humans. In fact, they are typically more afraid of us, which is why they resort to playing dead. They are generally less dangerous than a loose dog.
Opossums can be quite helpful visitors to your yard. They consume pests that you would otherwise have to pay to remove, such as rats, roaches, crickets, and even snakes. By feasting on these unwelcome guests, opossums effectively clean up your yard without any cost to you.
In addition to devouring pests, opossums are also fond of overripe fruit. If you have a fruit tree and haven’t managed to pick every piece of fruit during the harvest season, opossums can help clean up the leftovers. You can even offer them fruit that has gone bad in your pantry.
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Despite their unattractive appearance, opossums can be quite beneficial to your property. Next time you spot one in your yard, think twice before scaring it away. By clearing your yard of pests and consuming overripe fruit from your trees, these marsupials could be doing you a great service.
Source: AWM