Opossum information with yours truely

(fun fact, this is the SECOND TIME I'M WRITING ALL THIS BECAUSE I REFRESHED ON ACCIDENT WITHOUT SAVING THE FIRST TIME HOW FUN!!!! /s)

I like opossums, I would consider them my favorite animal. And with all my favorite things, I love to talk about them endlessly, so this whole thing is just a big infodump.

First of all, it's spelt OPOSSUM, not POSSUM. This is a very common mistake and a very IMPORTANT ONE because possum's are their own separate animal. Seriously, even Google gets it wrong, it's so frustrating.

This is the common Brushtail Possum, native to Australia. Not as cute as our topic of discussion today (in my humble opinion), but charming in their own way (I guess). Freaky little thing. 

Although they infact do NOT share the same name, they do have one thing in common. They're both marsupials! Australia is no stranger to these. Think kangaroos, koalas, wombats, I could go on. If they come from a pouch, they're likely a marsupial.

What makes opossums special though is that they're North America's one and ONLY native marsupial! You think they'd get a little more credit for it. Instead we're shooing them away from our backyards and garbage cans late at night, shame on America.

Just kidding. Eating human food can cause opossums to develop Metabolic Bone Disease due to improper nutrition. Best to let them fend for themselves.

As soon as baby opossums leave the pouch, they're up on their mama's back, just hanging on like little parasites or something. And when they fall off her back, they're on their own. Look at them, so small, so pathetic. Baby opossums in the wild CAN be quite small. If you find one, it's best not to worry, they're more than likely not lost from their mama.

Baby opossums are also called Joey's! Like all marsupial babies, in case you weren't aware.

The joey's tails are capable of wrapping around and gripping onto objects for hanging if they wanna take in their surroundings! I bet you're familiar with this little fun fact! Give yourself a pat on the back for knowing that one!

And while your hand's back there, SLAP YOURSELF IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD BECAUSE YOU'RE WRONG. This is a MYTH! Well, okay, it's partially true. They do this RARELY when they're young, the adults are TOO BIG to keep themselves up by their tails. The image above was likely fabricated to support this wild conspiracy. Why do we lie about this stuff??

Now, another commonly known opossum fact that actually IS a fact is that they play dead. This is not actually exclusive to opossums at all. Plenty of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish etc. experience this. It's called tonic immobility, and it happens when the animal feels it's in danger. Not sure why it's so heavily associated with our dear opossum.

Here's something I REALLY bet you didn't know. When an opossum is overweight, fat builds up behind their eyes! This can make them cross eyed, and can affect their eyesight! This is more common with PET OPOSSUMS. Here are some examples!

BAD! BAD BAD BAD!!! THIS IS NOT CUTE, HE DOES NOT LOOK SILLY! THIS POOR ANIMAL IS OVERWEIGHT! 

Look at this healthy young gentleman! Ooh he's so ear, with that handsome smile and those perfect black eyes! Maybe a little skinny, but he's just a baby! Shaping up to be healthy and fit! 

HORRIBLE!!! TERRIBLE!!! HE THINKS EVERYTHING'S A FUCKING GAME!!! PUT THAT TONGUE AWAY!!! I'm sorry, it's not his fault he's being POORLY CARED FOR!!!! 

Studious, dashing. And I don't just mean the hat. Look at those eyes and his charming Dreamworks Smirk™ This healthy fellow is in good hands.

This one...this one genuinely sickens me. Their eyes are bulging, beyond crossed. This is as bad as it gets. Whoever in their right mind thinks this is cute, or funny, is misinformed. And if they know the facts, they're disgusting. These poor creatures need to be taken from this person's care immediately.

Now that we know the difference, for the love of god people. If you're going to own an opossum, or any exotic animal for that matter, DO YOUR RESEARCH. It's out there! Just Google an opossum diet, it's that easy! And make sure they get exercise! People like to give these little critters sugary treats like fruits EXCESSIVELY. That may be healthy for us, but they're TREATS for critters! Just like how rabbits shouldn't eat EXCLUSIVELY carrots.

To end this blog, I'd ask you give your local opossums the benefit of the doubt. If you are an opossum hater, and think they're the dirty freaks of the street alongside skunks or raccoons (which I'm sure aren't very icky either if you research them), take this into consideration. 

Opossums groom themselves just as often as your very own house cat. They're also known for having the INABILITY (or at least it's very rare for them) to carry RABIES. You're actually more likely to get rabies than an opossum is. They also kill ticks, mice, snakes and things of the like. They'll keep all the icky pests away.

They're clean! They're cute! They're helpful! And honestly you could probably pet one if it passed out in front of you. They don't bite often unless it's for a last resort. They're mostly harmless, make actually pretty okay pets (if you get them toys to chew on), and they're ADORABLE when cared for properly. Opossums are great.

And they have cool fingerless gloves