Let's start off with Number 1: opossums and possums aren't just different names for the same animal. Opossums are often called possums as a nickname in North America, but the actual possum is a small animal that lives in Australia. There are several species of possum, and they are more closely related to sugar gliders than the larger opossums of the Americas.

Number 2: Opossums are famous for their "playing dead" stunt, but it's actually not a conscious decision at all.

The act is nicknamed "playing possum," and they would do it when a predator's coming up on them, looking to eat them. In response to that, they flop on their side, lay there, eyes staring blankly, tongue hanging out the side of their mouth, and drooling, and we can't forget the truly awful stench that they release from their back end.

The whole performance is really quite convincing, but the opossum doesn't actually have control over how to implement the prank. They literally pass out from fright, and they can be stunned from forty minutes to four hours.

The unusual behavior is actually triggered by stress, but it's so effective that it increases their chance of surviving because the predator doesn't want to eat a foul-smelling dead animal, which means that this genetic trait is passed down from parents to young and has now become solidly part of the species' adaptations.

Ophie, are you having fun over there? What did you find? Off on an adventure! Whatcha doing back there? Alright, let's move on.

 
Number 3: Opossums are immune to venom.

Venomous snakes are not an animal to mess around with, but opossums laugh in the face of danger. That's because opossums don't have to worry about the deadly effects of cytotoxic snake venom, and they will actually seek out snakes as a tasty meal.

Their antivenom power is found in a protein in their serum, and researchers were even able to copy it and develop it into a medication for human use.

Number 4: Opossums tails are prehensile.

Now, their tails aren't going to win the prize for being cute, but they are super handy for climbing trees. Their tail is covered in hard, scaly skin, and it's strong and flexible. They use their tail to curl and grasp branches as they navigate the shrubs and trees.

They don't really hang and dangle by their tail, but if they slip, their tail can catch them and help make sure that they don't actually fall completely.

Ophelia's tail isn't actually a very good example because she can't grip with it, because she had an accident when she was a baby, which is why she's living under the care of humans instead of in the wild.

Number 5: Opossums groom themselves as much as a cat.

Sure, opossums live outside and will sometimes be caught eating from a garbage can, but they're not dirty animals by nature. They will meticulously clean themselves using their tongues and paws to reach every inch of their cute furry bodies.

Ophelia here loves to groom herself, but she needs a little extra help because she doesn't have a back left leg. Her leg was amputated after an accident when she was a baby, and now that she's all grown up, she needs us to help keep the left side of her body clean.

Unfortunately, we're not quite as good at it as she would be, so the right side of her body is much cleaner than the left side. But we do our best to keep up. And just look how much she enjoys a good ear rub!

Speaking of her adorable eyes, we come to...

Number 6: Opossums have giant pupils.

Opossums are well known for their big black eyes, but if you noticed when I gave her an ear scratch, you could see the whites around her eyes. The white you see is the same as the whites of our eyes. An opossum's black pupils are so big that they take up the entire visible part of their eye, and you only see the whites when they get super excited about something, like right now, or when they get super scared.

Having large pupils can be helpful when trying to see in the dark, and opossums are nocturnal. However, these nighttime critters don't have great eyesight overall, even with their extra big pupils.

Number 7: Opossums have opposable thumbs.

When you look at their feet, your first impression might be these adorable front feet with five little pink toes that look like she's wearing gloves, but their thumbs are actually on their back feet, where they have four clawed toes and then a claw-less thumb that they use to grip branches as they climb.

Not many animals have thumbs, let alone on their back feet, which makes opossums that much more unique.

Number 8: Opossums babies must find a nipple or die.

Mother opossums can give birth to as many as 25 babies. The joeys are furless, about the size of a honeybee, and can't see or hear when they're first born. They must crawl across their mother's belly and into the safety of her pouch, where they will find warm milk waiting for them to drink.

The babies will attach to a nipple and stay there for the next 50 to 70 days. Unfortunately, opossums only have 13 nipples, and not all of them work all the time, so anyone who doesn't find a nipple right away won't have access to their mother's life-giving milk, and the unfed babies won't survive.

Speaking of surviving...

Number 9: Opossums have excellent memory.

Due to their super sense of smell, opossums are great at finding food, like she's doing right now. And if it's something worth coming back to, they can remember exactly where that food source is, so they can stop in again for a second round. During behavioral studies on opossums, researchers found that opossums were better at remembering the location of food than dogs, cats, rats, turtles, pigs, rabbits, goats, and chickens. 

They can also use their excellent memory to complete a maze faster than rats, who are basically the mascots of maze running. So while they might not be great at avoiding cars, when it comes to food, opossums remember.

And finally...

Number 10: Opossums' ancestors have been around since the dinosaurs.

Opossums' ancestors originally migrated up and down the Americas during the Cretaceous Period. When the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event happened, most of the dinosaurs went extinct, and mammals really started to diversify.

North and South America split, and all the marsupials in North America went extinct about 20 million years ago. And those in South America flourished, diversified, and some species moved into Antarctica and Australia.

When North and South America were once again reunified by the Isthmus of Panama, about 3 million years ago, two marsupial species made it back to North America: the Virginia opossum, like Ophelia here, and the southern opossum. Virginia opossums are the only species of marsupial living north of Mexico, and they can be found as far north as Ontario, Canada.

It's pretty neat to think that Ophelia's ancestors were around to see the end of the dinosaurs.

So the next time someone tries to say that opossums are pests or have anything less than good words for them, say, "Nah," and share these ten awesome opossum facts!

Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoyed learning about opossums with Ophelia and me. If you'd like to continue learning interesting things about animals, be sure to subscribe to our channel, Animal Wonders Montana, and we'll see you soon!