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Opossum Fact #18: Our marsupial friends don't live long
(thelemmy.club)
:(
I know! Makes it even more important to preserve them.
If you ever see a dead opossum by the side of the road, stop to check the pouch for babies! But also make sure the possum is actually dead before taking them (or just call a rescue first to be sure).
You can look up rescues here: https://ahnow.org/
Do you think if I play dead by the side of the road some kind person will take my kid to a rescue??‽
American health care is so complicated. Especially when you have kids.
In other countries you just.....go to the hospital because theres universal health care.
But what about the wait times???? So far I've only waited 15 years to see a doctor because I can't afford it
Have you tried being born rich instead?
Only one way to find out.
Not very likely over here in europe unfortunately
luckily europe doesnt have any native marsupials. since the likely origin of marsupials is likely SOuth america(there are ancient lineage of marsupial there) the diprodonts(australias) diverged likely when the continents were all still connected.
another fun fact is S america was so unique had its own order of mammals until the interchange. sprassadonts(marsupial-like), liptoterns,,,etc, giant armadillos, giant ground sloths.
There is usually a major heath issue associate with short lived species. For example, rats usually die riddled with tumors.
they dont live long enough for tumors in the wild that, at least not in the wild. the domesticated rats are all inbred mostly thats why they get tumors. in the wild rats die from predators and infections more often. another plus is they dont live long enough to spread rabies if they get infected.
marsupials also have a much lower body temperature than placental mammals.
marsupials also have a much lower body temperature than placental mammals.
Bats, which are not marsupials, have a really high body temperature and can live to like 30.
I saw a youtube video covering a paper that explained that even though they catch viruses the high temperature makes it really hard on the virus, so bats can basically ignore the infection. Bad for us since they also fly so they make great carriers, but the bats have it pretty good.
bats is very mysterious, i think its due to thier long evolutionary history compared to most mammals, allow them to co-exist with the pathogens. they suddenly came into the picture right before the cretacaeuous ended, we dont even know what bats evolved from. funny thing one of the clues is "bat bugs" which are predecessors to bed bugs( and they can infect humans). other unusual mammals are solenedons/nosphenthes lineages.
“The brightest stars burn the fastest, so we must love them while we can.”
I don't wanna fix myself, but if the opossum is making a mess in your backyard looking for food. You can trap them and then free them at a popular park near rich people's homes. The city will protect them and there will be food. Their dogs are usually non barking due to noise complaints or indoor or they might not have dogs at all.
Are you sure they're not just... playing opossum?
I’ve seen a couple possum pets online. They just don’t seem to be very good pets? They’re not hyperactive nuts like Raccoons or anything, they just seem to get fat and not want to do much, they always seem kinda like they just want to hide.
I think it really depends on whether they were raised by humans from an early age or not. They can be a great pet for the right person.
Here is a video explaining why they make good pets - but I just want to say, “not for everyone”: https://youtu.be/PtVG6DHOA1o
I had to quit after the first three reasons, lol.
- I sleep like shit so that means I can hang out with a nocturnal animal more
- possums don’t do much and like to hide
- they have cool tail
Not really starting off with any solid reasons for what constitutes “pet” material.
Maybe this is a better video to show how loving they can be: https://youtu.be/CP2uDm6Pp4Q
Doesn't get better later. It's basically maximally passive animal. Which is cool and cute but...not really a pet.
TIL an opossum is the mammal equivalent of a pet fish.
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2026
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