Opposums are nature's vacuum cleaners. They will eat anything they can find. They'll eat fruits, nuts, birds, worms, frogs, garbage, and even dead animals. They will eat dirt, wrappers, and packaging. Imagine if your kid ate like an opposum. You could save a lot of money!
Opposum's "Playing opposum" trick is a safe, yet disgusting way to stay alive when a predator attacks! The opposum first shows all of its teeth to frighten the foe. If this does not work, it will play dead. An opposum can play dead from about four minutes to four hours. It will build up saliva, then release snot from its blush pink nose, and it will even fart a disgusting smelly green fluid fom its butt. The predator will probably be disgusted out by then and leave.
Opossums are also good at climbing. Their small tails are prehensile, meaning they can wrap around things. Opposums have thumbs on thier feet, called halluxes. This special toe helps them climb. They are specially built for tree climbing. Opposums are definitely more than meets the eye.
Opossums are cool, but grubby. We have had them in our woods several times. They are sharp, spine-like teeth and hiss if you get close to them. A couple of not so smart ones have tried to eat our chickens in the past. :( We have had two of them in our compost bin this winter, they think that is a perfect picnic spot. Ick!
ReplyDeleteGreat writing, Emperor!!