As most of y’all know, I adore possums but seldom take them in because they almost never arrive one or two at a time; it’s usually seven or eight, and always during baby season, when seven or eight possums in addition to upwards of 25 birds, most of whom require feeding at least every half hour is, well, more than one person can handle and do right by all involved.
So when the call came today about a SINGLE possum found in a bucket and possibly cat-attacked, I was quite willing to take the hissy little fellow, as he’s old enough to self-feed and really only needs a round of antibiotics to ward off any possible ill effects from the surmised cat attack.
He’s stressed, of course, and crazy-hissy, showing off those 50 teeth—yeah, possums have 50 teeth—in what would be an impressive threat display if he were bigger. As it is, I just laugh at the rascal.
So when the call came today about a SINGLE possum found in a bucket and possibly cat-attacked, I was quite willing to take the hissy little fellow, as he’s old enough to self-feed and really only needs a round of antibiotics to ward off any possible ill effects from the surmised cat attack.
He’s stressed, of course, and crazy-hissy, showing off those 50 teeth—yeah, possums have 50 teeth—in what would be an impressive threat display if he were bigger. As it is, I just laugh at the rascal.
As a reminder, possums are not rabies-prone; their core body temp is too low. They also eat slugs, snails, roaches, the ticks that cause Lyme disease, frogs, small rodents and snakes…and they’re immune to rattlesnake venom. So yeah, possums are EXCELLENT natural pest control.
They have opposable thumbs on their back feet, while their front toes are all evenly sized. Their eyesight is pathetically bad; they’d be classified as legally blind if they were humans. Their sensitive noses compensate for their bad eyesight, though. They use their prehensile tail NOT to hang from tree branches—at least, not as adults; the babies sometimes will—but as an extra “hand” to drag nesting material around.
They have opposable thumbs on their back feet, while their front toes are all evenly sized. Their eyesight is pathetically bad; they’d be classified as legally blind if they were humans. Their sensitive noses compensate for their bad eyesight, though. They use their prehensile tail NOT to hang from tree branches—at least, not as adults; the babies sometimes will—but as an extra “hand” to drag nesting material around.
Their main defense mechanisms include “grinning” to show off those aforementioned teeth, hence “grinning like a possum,” and literally fainting and feigning death, hence “playing possum.” When playing dead, they’ll sometimes drool, leading people and other potential predators to think they’re rabid when in actuality, I believe there’s been like one case of rabies reported in possums in the past hundred years. You and I are more likely to have rabies than a possum. They can also emit a foul-smelling discharge from their anus, making them smell dead and thus unappetizing to potential predators.
They’re also North America’s only native marsupial, meaning the female carries and nurses the babies in her pouch. Newborn possums are about the size of a bee; up to 20 may pass through the birth canal but Mama Possum only has 13 nipples, not all of which produce milk, so after 13 babies have latched onto those nipples, almost vacuum-sealing their still poorly-formed mouths to them, the remaining babies are just out of luck…as are the ones on a non-productive nipple. There the survivors remain, locked to a nipple, as it were, for about two and a half months; then they cling to Mama’s back as she forages for food—and if any fall off, oh well…Possums don’t have a strong maternal instinct.
Their lifespan is short, only about four years at the longest, and they’ve changed little in millions of years—how neat is that?!
In short, possums is neat! (Yes, I know it’s bad grammar but it sounds goofier, appropriate for goofy little critters. And if you’re wondering, my source for all this lovely trivia is my memory—it’s stuff I’ve read on possums over the years.)
Sisyphus the kestrel, the screech and the barred all are due for follow-up x-rays this week. Sisyphus’ wing has been unwrapped for several days now, and he’s keeping it fairly level, so that’s a good sign. So fingers crossed for good outcomes for all of them.
Their lifespan is short, only about four years at the longest, and they’ve changed little in millions of years—how neat is that?!
In short, possums is neat! (Yes, I know it’s bad grammar but it sounds goofier, appropriate for goofy little critters. And if you’re wondering, my source for all this lovely trivia is my memory—it’s stuff I’ve read on possums over the years.)
Sisyphus the kestrel, the screech and the barred all are due for follow-up x-rays this week. Sisyphus’ wing has been unwrapped for several days now, and he’s keeping it fairly level, so that’s a good sign. So fingers crossed for good outcomes for all of them.
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