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Opossums are not considered dangerous to humans. [57] Though their open-mouth hiss when frightened is often mistaken as rabid behavior, opossums are naturally resistant to rabies due to their low body temperature. Opossums can however host parasites and carry diseases such as tuberculosis, leptospirosis, and tularemia, among others. [58]
In captivity, opossums will eat practically anything including dog and cat food, livestock fodder and discarded human food scraps and waste. Many large opossums (Didelphini) are immune to the venom of rattlesnakes and pit vipers ( Crotalinae ) and regularly prey upon these snakes. [ 46 ]
The common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), also called the southern or black-eared opossum [2] or gambá, and sometimes called a possum, is a marsupial species living from the northeast of Mexico to Bolivia (reaching the coast of the South Pacific Ocean to the central coast of Peru), including Trinidad and Tobago and the Windwards in the Caribbean, [2] where it is called manicou. [3]
You would think a possum would, you know, 'play possum' when threatened -- but this YouTube video shows that's not what happened when one possum met an unsuspecting deer. Fox News says, "The deer ...
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In mammals, the Virginia opossum (commonly known simply as possums) is perhaps the best known example of defensive thanatosis. "Playing possum" is an idiomatic phrase which means "pretending to be dead". [13] It comes from a characteristic of the Virginia opossum, which is famous for reacting with a death-like posture when threatened.
A surprise guest at a college football game in Texas on Thursday became a viral celebrity overnight. An opossum, whose name is unknown, ran across the field during Texas Tech University’s home ...
In some mainland states, possum trapping is permitted when attempting to evict possums from human residences (e.g. roofs), but possums must be released after dusk within 24 hours of capture, no more than 50 m from the trapping site. In some states, e.g. Victoria, trapped possums may be taken to registered veterinarians to be killed. [28]