Learn all about Opossums on Wildlife Rescue

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates and Leslie Rink of the Opossum Society present an educational show about opossums.
The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only two to four years. Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in pre-made burrows or even under houses. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, they do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. These areas may be below ground or above.
When threatened or harmed, they will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. The lips are drawn back, teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The physiological response is involuntary, rather than a conscious act. Their stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away. The animal will regain consciousness after a period of minutes or hours and escape.
Adult opossums do not hang from trees by their tails, though babies may dangle temporarily. Their semi-prehensile tails are not strong enough to support a mature adult's weight. Instead, the opossum uses its tail as a brace and a fifth limb when climbing. The tail is occasionally used as a grip to carry bunches of leaves or bedding materials to the nest. A mother will sometimes carry her young upon her back, where they will cling tightly even when she is climbing or running.
Threatened opossums (especially males) will growl deeply, raising their pitch as the threat becomes more urgent. Males make a clicking "smack" noise out of the side of their mouths as they wander in search of a mate, and females will sometimes repeat the sound in return. When separated or distressed, baby opossums will make a sneezing noise to signal their mother. If threatened, the baby will open its mouth and quietly hiss until the threat is gone.
Opossums have more teeth than any other land mammal; only aquatic mammals have more.
Please visit www.OpossumSocietyUS.org
Produced by Jeff Fleiss
Founder of Animal News and DoggyTV
#opossum #opposums #WildlifeRescue #MaryCummins
#AnimalAdvocates #DoggyTV

[@victoriac1299]

I really enjoyed this video. I currently have a possum residing under my house. He coexists peacefully with my feral cats and I feed all of them regularly. I love having my little possum around.

[@HarpMuse]

I have one living in the bottom drawer of my file cabinet. It's not always there, so it obviously can get in and out. How I'm not sure.

[@greenscarab2]

That's how I fell in love. Found one on the side of the road. I am a member also.

[@jarvisyoung8350]

Have my own little opossum kingdom in my backyard in Dallas. Absolutely love them !

[@JW-vi2nh]

"Little opossum kingdom" I love this! I also have a little opossum kingdom somewhere along the perimeter of my house. I'm not sure exactly where they live, but I have roughly 6-8 that come to my side patio to eat every night starting right around 7:30. I've been feeding them dog food soaked in warm milk since learning about MBD being common in opossums due to calcium deficiency. I just adore watching them eat, drink out of the water bowl and groom themselves. They are so freaking cute! Just a few nights ago I had some vanilla cake that was no longer fresh so I put it out for them. It was hilarious watching them get icing all over their little feet, then tracking sticky white footprints all over the patio. They LOVE vanilla cake with vanilla icing!

[@inabach1623]

good to know about opossum..they are worth of being protected and respected.

[@ericweller9944]

I really liked your presentation about possums but i feel that you should have let the people's know that they are a very good use to help keep down the tick population and help keep the spread of lime diseases at a minimum i think that would help out with the safety for possums and maybe people would not be so negative towards them but more reluctant to help saving them

[@janbraham6017]

They will show their teeth and hiss,but it's all bluff.They are very docile guys.

[@gayleraven1559]

Opossums are in Canada. I have one in my yard and I live in Midland Ontario Canada. I made a video of it. I also made a burrow for it to keep warm in winter and out of the wind, snow etc. I also fed it some cat food.

[@LisaHouserman]

The gal doing the interviewing is excellent! She asks pertinent questions. I am watching this on my porch and a large possum walked up a few minutes ago. A young one has been hanging around for 2 weeks. The bird feeders keep them coming back. Glad to learn about these misunderstood creatures. Thanks!

[@mjdj1999]

She is beautiful! The women on here are too! :)

[@OhHapppyDaay]

Thet maddening intro music made me want to scream!

[@becauseofkarma2913]

I thought cats and opossums had a mutual respect for each other? I didn't realize they were a predator/prey thing. I have been feeding an opossum family/cats and some raccoons I have never had an issue, thank goodness! I'll have to keep a closer eye out for issues!

[@becauseofkarma2913]

Owls ARE a natural predator for opossums. I'm not sure where she lives, but I live in Florida and we have issues with owls and eagles going after opossums.. :(

[@jamesryder8305]

Yo, there's a opossum society?!

[@SonicBoone56]

Yep. They're based in California. But all wildlife rehabbers may as well be included since almost all of them will tell you just how great opossums are.

[@zereprd3911]

I find it interesting that Leslie Rink suggests to refrain from feeding cows milk to opossums. I've been watching lately videos about wombats in Australia, and those marsupials are suggested not to feed cows milk as well. So then I wonder, what is the formula they've used to feed the pinkies composed of?

[@tatchik77]

It is Ebsilac (replacement milk) for goats is what is given to pinkies & they have to be tube fed because opossums don't suckle.

[@Sigridovski]

I would not use cotton towels; I prefer hemp towels - antibacterial and warm. for softness, I would put hemp straw under the hemp towel, or just hemp straw without a towel. It is warm, soft and don't smell.

[@MichaelCorryFilms]

Only 3 years in captivity? Poor things.

[@becauseofkarma2913]

I know right! How disappointing :(

[@SonicBoone56]

I was shocked too when I first found out. But it turns out that's not uncommon in the wild. Raccoons and a few other animals live around the same amount of time. There's various reasons as to why that is the case, but I believe the general consensus is that it's due to how they reproduce and spread their offspring and because of the predators they have.

[@lindakae1635]

I was taught that the O is silent and correct pronunciation is Possum. Noticed this discrepancy in the video between the two speakers.

[@MrCardeso]

According to Merriam Webster, it can be pronounced either way.

[@ccdogpark]

The audio for this video is very inconsistent. If you make any more youtube videos please jack up the volume. Parts of this are extremely hard to hear on my laptop and I suspect that has a very negative effect on the number of views. I had to add this to a playlist to watch later by casting my laptop to my TV which has much better speakers. But I wonder how many people would be willing to do that. I have recently discovered that a mature neighborhood opossum will feed from a grey squirrel carcass, so I have been saving every other grey squirrel carcass for our opossum. He actually takes the entire carcass back to his den to eat it there. I hate that Americans judge wild animals based primarily on how cute they look. At first glance, the opossum are ferocious looking but I am currently compiling a playlist that will demonstrate how harmless they are in suburban neighborhoods. Farmers with chickens could also be trapping grey squirrels and placing the carcass near their chicken coops to help protect their chickens from opossum. On the other hand, grey squirrels which look cute to many people, are extremely destructive and they are wreaking havoc in the US. I take great pride in trapping and disposing of greys. Feeding them to a harmless scavenger (ie possum), makes it all the better. WRZ Delaware County, Pennsylvania USA

[@alflebt5054]

if this possum can read slautherhouse 5...

[@MythicalVigilante]

Black eyes and a mouth full of vampire like teeth... They can also be ferocious. One climbed in my Alabama window, starting screaming at my dog. Sounds like a banshee. That was scary.. Anyways, they're America's only marsupial. Very interesting. How'd that happen?

[@shades_of_rad]

They are harmless. All bark no bite

[@lorraine9242]

They put on quite an act. But if you pick one up, the possum just goes limp.

[@wheatberry]

Spelling : opossums

[@DoggyTV]

Thank you.

[@joshuahull9982]

@@DoggyTV I actually had a pet opossum I found injured as a baby and he lived to almost 6 years old. He was very sweet. I actually tried to release him 5 times but would find him sitting by my back door. People who keep them where its legal don't realize they need a high calcium diet or they will get metabolic bone disease and ultimately die. Like I said mine was sweet and would sleep in my lap. He was very low maintenance. Mine mostly ate a high quality dog food with a calcium supplement formulated for reptiles added. Sometimes I would buy him frozen mice sold in pet stores for snakes in addition to fruit and vegetables and chicken and fish. He never had any bone issues and passed away peacefully in his sleep. I would just let him run loose in my house for a few hours at night in a room with nothing he could get into. He would go back in his cage on his own and would actually use a litter box. I still do NOT recommend anyone try to keep a wild opossum. You WILL definitely kill them if you don't care for them properly. Mine had some permanent nerve damage in his front leg from being injured. Otherwise he would have been released. He could use his damaged hand but not very well.