They have honed, opposable thumbs on their hind feet. These facts about opossums justify the denial as a sanitary animal. When the baby in the pouch excretes, these mammals regularly clean it. They use their tongue and paw to groom themselves frequently and thoroughly. Opossums love Self-GroomingĬonsidering their smelly and acting routine, opossums do not fall under extreme sanitary animals in nature. These facts about opossums show how sharp their mind works from playing opossums to having sharp memory. They also scored better than rats, rabbits, cats, and other animals. It is the only marsupial species with intelligent memory. Opossums are even better than dogs when it comes to remembering food.Īccording to the research, opossums did great on memory tests. They can recall the memory of substances that are toxic up to the year after trying them once. They can easily remember on which path did their prey go? They are smart creatures. Opossums have keen memories, especially when it comes to food. No doubt their menu contains about 5000 ticks per season. Guess who won the race? Opossum killed and ate the most ticks compared to other animals. Thanks to opossums, they do reduce the spread of Lyme diseases.Īccording to the research, a group of biologists from Cary Institution gave 100 ticks to eat to species like opossums, squirrels, chipmunks. These ticks are responsible for spreading Lyme disease. Mostly, black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, are their favorite. A single opossum can eat almost 4000 ticks every season. Opossums kill and eat 93% of ticks across their path. There are frogs, and snakes that can fake death. These defensive tactics are one of the important and unique facts about opossums. However, they get back to normal within a few minutes to a few hours.
The first sign when they feel conscious is twitching their ears. The foul smell gets secreted from their anal gland, and their eyes get fully or half-closed. When these opossums play possums, their saliva forms like foam, lips are drawn back, and teeth are bared. It will not happen every time they feel threatened. It is not intentional by these cute little opossums. Play possum is a psychological act that is involuntary. They can pretend as if they got passed away to misguide predators as they are unconscious. When opossums feel threatened or harmed, they can play like the dead. Here are some interesting facts about Opossums: 1. Opossums try to use abandoned places where they don’t need much effort to make their own home.
Some opossum families can form a group and stay in a burrow or even under houses. They can stay in one area as long as food and water are available. They defend themselves when they sense danger and tries to protect their young as well. Researchers have found that opossums do attack humans. Opossums feed on cockroaches, rats, and mice, helping to keep the environment healthy and eradicate Lyme disease’s threat. They are the only marsupial(pouched mammal) found in the US and Canada. Opossums are often called possums in North America, and there are many dozens of different species of opossums.
Many people think they are dirty, doltish creatures, but they are smarter, cleaner, and more beneficial to humans.Īround 110 species are found across Central and South America, whereas Virginia opossum(Didelphis Virginian) is the only marsupial found north of Mexico. The scientific name of an opossum is Phalangeriformes and falls under the order Didelphimorphia.
Opossums have a complicated reproductive system
0 kommentar(er)
