The next time you spot an opossum in your yard or shuffling down the street, pause to admire her. Her fur might be matted, and her tiny razor teeth might glisten menacingly. But this marsupial has places to be and pests to devour. (via The Atlantic)
. The account has more than half a million followers. “They’re just leading their own life, not bothering other people,” Sam, the 24-year-old who runs the account, told me. Plus, he added, “they’re trash mammals!” Just like us. Perhaps they’re so memeable because their vibe is so easy to relate to. If an opossum could talk, I think she would probably say something like “” which is also something that I would say.
This humble creature simply has no interest in violence toward humankind. Researchers who want to observe an opossum up close merely grab it by the scruff of its neck, or lift it up by the tail. Mostly, it will just hang there, quiet and concerned. Austad has handled hundreds of opossums for various research projects, catching them in live traps and affixing collars to their fuzzy necks. “I’ve never been bitten by an opossum!” he told me happily., I’d reply.
Yet the life of an opossum can be very sad. She is, in some ways, the Little Match Girl of the mammalian world. Opossums do not hibernate, so when the weather is cold, they get cold too. Their little bare toes and ears are prone to frostbite; you’ll occasionally find opossums missing fingers or tails or chunks of ears. Even if all goes well for the Virginia opossum—no road accidents, no coyote attacks—she never lives very long.
A few years ago, an opossum moved into Gardner’s backyard. He left food for her at night, and attached a ramp to an old rabbit hutch so she could have some shelter if she wanted. During the day, the opossum would sit in the hutch or in a tall pile of lumber and watch Gardner quietly as he worked in the garden. For a year, the two were silent companions. Until suddenly, one day, the opossum disappeared. That’s just how opossums work, Gardner said.
The next time you spot an opossum in your yard or shuffling down the street, pause to admire her, just for a moment. Her fur might be matted, and her tiny razor teeth might glisten menacingly. But this marsupial has places to be and pests to devour. For her, life is short—too short for tömat—and like all of us, she’s doing her best to survive.
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