Nature & Wellness: Opossums

These misunderstood marsupials clean up our yards and fight Lyme disease. They have a face only a mother can love but they’re highly adapted to the urban landscape. They are nature’s clean up crew. They can digest almost anything including dead animal bones and in doing so they help remove dangerous pathogens from the environment, eliminating diseases from carcasses and food waste that could otherwise be spread. Additionally, feasting on carcasses and waste they will catch and eat cockroaches, mice and rats on their nightly prowls. Opossums have an appetite for slugs, snails, toads, ticks and even snakes. This helps keep most gardens pest-free. Opossum’s act like vacuum cleaners, killing almost 95% of the ticks. One single opossum could eliminate nearly 4,000 ticks a week. This is beneficial to helping with Lyme disease.

Opossum’s show immunity to numerous types of snake venom and their blood could hold the key to fighting snake bites around the world! The opossum is the most harmless, helpful creature of them all. They don’t chew or dig, and they typically don’t break into your attic. They use the dens of other animals. While they are able climbers, their paws aren’t as dexterous as the raccoon, so they can’t cause damage.

Opossums are transient, passing through an area for a short period before moving on. They have a low body temperature that gives them a very low risk of contracting and spreading rabies. “They are ancient creatures, and they’ve been doing this for a very long time. Only now, they’re doing it in our backyards.” Please be patient with them. If you come across one most likely they will stop, drop and “play possum,” losing consciousness for up to four hours.