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OOOOOOO, Opossum

November 26th, 2008

Last week we spotted a baby ‘possum by the garage here at Chiot’s Run. It sure was cute.


I had to laugh because when I posted about our local turkeys I made a comment about how creepy opossums were. Lee commented about opossums on that post, this is what he said,

“Opossums are not so ugly. Baby opossums are very cute. They come to my backyard to eat the cat food and the fruits from my trees. Once in a while the babies come in the house so I grab them and take them to animal control. The ones that stay outside I leave them alone. Opossums are considered beneficial animals so they are not euthanized over here in southern California. They are taken to the hills and released. The babies are taken to opossum sanctuary where they are kept till they are big enough to be released in the hills. Isn’t that great? By the way, opossums are resistant to rabies so they are pretty safe to have them around in the backyard. Since the opossums showed up I no longer have slug and snail infestation. They love to eat the slugs and snails. I no longer have to use baits. One problem I have with them is that they love to leave presents in the greenhouse where I keep my orchids. Sigh lol.”

I guess he’s right, the baby ones are pretty cute. The adult ones however, still creep me out.

What do you think? creepy or cute?

12 Comments to “OOOOOOO, Opossum”
  1. Colleen on November 26, 2008 at 7:09 am

    Grown possums are creepy, but babies are ridiculously cute. I don’t have many possums in my area, but my inlaws ended up with a grown possum in their garage a couple of years ago—nearly gave my MIL a heart attack :-)

    Reply to Colleen's comment

  2. Squawkfox on November 26, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    I’ve never seen one before. :/ Kinda creepy cute. :D

    Generally, I find rodent-type creatures creepy. I saw a wiesel the other day and darn near flipped. It was all white with a little dab of black fur at the tip of his tail. At first I thought it was an albino squirrel…but no. I’m still recovering. :D

    Reply to Squawkfox's comment

  3. kristin on November 26, 2008 at 1:56 pm

    CREEPY. Our dogs kill them, and then I have to fling the remains into the gully. I have this fear that one of them will just be, uh, “playing possum,” and will leap snarling into my face when I go to scoop it up. They always die with a snarl on their faces, and they have some nasty fangs. *shudder*

    Reply to kristin's comment

  4. Susy on November 26, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    Yeah, this little one was hissing & snarling at us.

    We had a chipmunk once that was playing possum on our porch, our cat caught it and it just played dead. We went to scoop it up with a shovel and the thing jumped up and took off running, scared me half to death!!!

    Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Carol on November 26, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Well, a baby anything is a little cute. But yeah, ‘possums put me in mind of rats a little too much for me to feel like cuddling one.

    Reply to Carol's comment

  6. Jesse on November 26, 2008 at 4:29 pm

    I’ve seen a lot of baby possums here in Texas and not a single one was cute. THIS baby possum here is adorable!! I think you must just have cuter possums in Ohio!

    Reply to Jesse's comment

  7. Susy on November 26, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    Maybe so. It was pretty small, I was surprised to see such a small one so late in the season. Although I admit I know nothing about the procreation of ‘possums!

    It wasn’t so cute when it was hissing & showing it’s teeth!

    Reply to Susy's comment

  8. Lee on November 28, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    Awww that’s a cute one. They all hiss and snarl but their teeth are so small they cant hurt you. Their tails look like rat tails but they are different. When I hold them in my hands they coil their tails around my finger so I have to unwind the tail very carefully before I put them in the carrier to take them to animal control.

    Lee

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  9. Dinka on August 20, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Cute!
    We saw one crossing the street by our house, my husband wanted to adopt him. We were worried that he would get hit by a car, but we saw him again several days later.
    Pictures of the grown opossums do look kinda creepy, but the baby ones are adorable! He looked just like the picture of the opposum you posted.

    Reply to Dinka's comment

  10. Susan on February 16, 2010 at 11:36 pm

    are you kidding me? possums are the cutest things ever! im importin ga pygmy possum from “down under” so i can keep it as a pet. its like a baby possum/mouse. theyre so cute! i think i may be obsessed with them.. :/ oh well (:

    Reply to Susan's comment

  11. Lisa on March 2, 2010 at 9:07 pm

    Marsupials are incredible creatures! Despite the hissing, they’re very gentle.

    And those toesie toes! What could be more precious?

    Reply to Lisa's comment

  12. Brandy on August 13, 2010 at 8:29 am

    My brother and I rescued 9 baby possums that we found clinging to their dead mother who had been hit by a vehicle.
    We’ve been raising the babies for a few months now. At first we bottle fed them with cat milk and more recently they eat just about anything, bananas, beans, dog food etc. but they especially like blueberries.
    I thing that most folks mis-judge possums, possums make very nice pets. I have a special one named “Bessie”, I named her after my grandmother who passed away a few years ago. Bessie is a very loving little possum who likes to curl up on my lap and just look at at me with her big pretty eyes. I really love her, and will mis her a lot when I go back to college this fall. I’m thinking seriously about taking her with me, but they don’t allow pets in the dorm.
    I have lots of pictures of my possums if anyone would like to see what they look like.
    Please don’t kill possums or try to run them over when you see them along the highway, they don’t hurt anything and are just looking around for something to eat.

    Reply to Brandy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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