Opossums
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2025 8:46 pm
1. An opossum litter may consist of 25 young, but a female has only 13 nipples, not all of which may provide milk. If the opossum doesn’t fasten to a functioning nipple, it dies.
2. Opossums have pouches like kangaroos!
3. Female opossums often lick their pouch and surrounding areas before giving birth, sometimes making a sneezing sound when they do.
4. They’re immune to most forms of snake venom.
5. Opossums are almost the size of a domestic cat.
6. They can also recall the smell of toxic substances up to a year after trying them.
7. Opossums have a lifespan of just two years.
8. Their tails act like a fifth appendage.
9. They also help clean up sources of pests by eating rotting fruit and vegetables.
10. There are semi-aquatic opossums
11. They’re constantly self-grooming.
12. Baby possums can even use their tails to hang from branches upside down, as they’re often de-picted doing in cartoons.
13. The mother opossum licks the pouch and other fur to help the baby opossum in their journey.
14. Their name likely originated from the Powhatan language, and the borrowed word meant “white dog or dog-like beast”.
15. Baby opossums stay with mom for about 100 days and, as they age, they’ll start venturing out of the pouch more and more.
16. Male water opossums also have pouches.
17. According to the National Wildlife Federation, a single possum consumes 5000 of the parasites per tick season.
18. Opossums are nicknamed “nature’s little sani-tation engineers.”
19. Despite having good night vision, these noc-turnal marsupials have relatively poor general eye-sight and color vision.
20. Male opossums, called jacks, are usually larg-er than the females, called jills.
21. The opossum’s normal diet consists of carrion, rodents, snakes, insects, snails, slugs, birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruits, and grains.
22. Possums have no control over when they play dead or for how long they do it: The comatose-like state is an involuntary reaction triggered by stress.
23. They almost never get rabies.
24. Opossums have over four dozen teeth.
25. Researchers found that possums are better at remembering which runway led to a tasty treat than cats, dogs, and even rats.
26. Opossums are marsupials, not rodents.
27. Opossums do not hibernate, but they move slower during the winter.
28. Opossum eyes do have whites and irises, but because their pupils are so large, their eyes appear completely black from a distance.
29. Their eyes aren’t totally black.
30. Young opossums will make sneezing sounds or a soft “choo choo” to call out to their mother, who will respond with clicking noises.
2. Opossums have pouches like kangaroos!
3. Female opossums often lick their pouch and surrounding areas before giving birth, sometimes making a sneezing sound when they do.
4. They’re immune to most forms of snake venom.
5. Opossums are almost the size of a domestic cat.
6. They can also recall the smell of toxic substances up to a year after trying them.
7. Opossums have a lifespan of just two years.
8. Their tails act like a fifth appendage.
9. They also help clean up sources of pests by eating rotting fruit and vegetables.
10. There are semi-aquatic opossums
11. They’re constantly self-grooming.
12. Baby possums can even use their tails to hang from branches upside down, as they’re often de-picted doing in cartoons.
13. The mother opossum licks the pouch and other fur to help the baby opossum in their journey.
14. Their name likely originated from the Powhatan language, and the borrowed word meant “white dog or dog-like beast”.
15. Baby opossums stay with mom for about 100 days and, as they age, they’ll start venturing out of the pouch more and more.
16. Male water opossums also have pouches.
17. According to the National Wildlife Federation, a single possum consumes 5000 of the parasites per tick season.
18. Opossums are nicknamed “nature’s little sani-tation engineers.”
19. Despite having good night vision, these noc-turnal marsupials have relatively poor general eye-sight and color vision.
20. Male opossums, called jacks, are usually larg-er than the females, called jills.
21. The opossum’s normal diet consists of carrion, rodents, snakes, insects, snails, slugs, birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruits, and grains.
22. Possums have no control over when they play dead or for how long they do it: The comatose-like state is an involuntary reaction triggered by stress.
23. They almost never get rabies.
24. Opossums have over four dozen teeth.
25. Researchers found that possums are better at remembering which runway led to a tasty treat than cats, dogs, and even rats.
26. Opossums are marsupials, not rodents.
27. Opossums do not hibernate, but they move slower during the winter.
28. Opossum eyes do have whites and irises, but because their pupils are so large, their eyes appear completely black from a distance.
29. Their eyes aren’t totally black.
30. Young opossums will make sneezing sounds or a soft “choo choo” to call out to their mother, who will respond with clicking noises.