I admit that I was afraid of/repulsed by possums for a long time (anything that has FIFTY teeth is frightening to me) but then I educated myself about them (see the L is for Learning post) and realized they’re pretty cool.
Here’s why:
- They destroy ticks. A single opossum can eat 5,000 ticks a year!
- They kill venomous snakes.
- Unlike other mammals, they’re immune to rabies.
- They eat garden pests like slugs.
Since I felt badly for maligning North America’s only marsupial for so long, I gave Matty, a possum who sounds like Lauren Bacall, a heroic role in THE HITWOMAN AND THE GOLD DIGGER.
Another interesting tidbit is the opposum’s tail is like an extra limb that they use to carry things, like leaves used to line their home.