Oh, 'possum!

"Hello, ladies!"

This lovely guy is the Opossum, North America's only marsupial, and they can be found all over the place heres in Southwest Ga! These animals get a bad rap, but they are really quite fascinating! For instance, a lot of people think the Opossum is a "stupid animal", but they've actually placed higher than dogs on learning tests! They have thumbs on their hind feet! They're also a very old animal, living in the times of dinosaurs! As fearsome as the above picture looks, the Opossum tries everything it can to avoid a confrontation. When cornered it will put on a very impressive show by showing all 50 of it's sharp teeth, giving the impression that it's really good at defending itself, but it's actually very bad at defending itself. Although they can bite(and those teeth would do some damage), they're more likely to "play 'possum"; an involuntary action in which the animal goes into a shock-like state and gives off the smell and look of being dead, which is enough to deter some predators that would rather have a fresh meal. Contrary to popular belief, they do not hang from trees by their tails as adults like they do in cartoons. While as juveniles they may hang from branches for short periods of time, adults are far to heavy for their tails to support them. Instead, the tail is used to help stabilize them while climbing.
They are a very quiet animal that like to keep to themselves, which is why they generally only come out at night to do their hunting. They will eat just about anything that they can find, including insects, rats, fruits, frogs, snakes, roadkill, cat food, dog food, people food, etc. They typically don't put a lot of effort into building a home, instead they keep moving and occupy spaces that are already available like abandoned burrows and even under houses. Unfortunately they have a very short life span (only about 2-4 years), and a LOT of predators, one of the biggest being man. Because they are so misunderstood, many people resort to killing them/removing them from their habitat and placing them in one in which they won't survive. But the Opossum does a lot of good for our areas, helping to rid them of unwanted pests like cockroaches, spiders, rats and mice, dead animals, and even over-ripe fruit on the groud! They're like nature's own little sanitation crew! They are about 8 times less likely to carry rabies than wild dogs (only about 1 in 800 Opossums are infected with the virus). They don't dig holes or destroy property. Opossums are a harmless animal, and the removal of them in an area can result in the increased population of other unwanted mammals in that spot, like rats, skunks, and raccoons. So to coexist with these animals, you can pick up your pet food at night, keep your garbage lid on, and close off any axcess points they may have into/under your home. By following these precautions, you can eliminate any nuisance they may cause you and let them do what they do best, waddle around at night taking care of pests! However, if you find it necessary to remove an Opossum from your yard, call an Animal Control or widlife removal specialist who can make sure they are transported to an area where they will be able to survive and thrive!