Opossums Are Misunderstood: The Truth About Ticks, Rabies and Their Ecological Role

With 50 sharp teeth, dark eyes, a hairless tail, and a habit of hissing when cornered, the Virginia opossum has all the features required to become an unfairly feared backyard visitor.

The truth is far more interesting. Opossums are adaptable North American marsupials that eat insects, fruit, seeds, carrion, small animals, and other available foods. They disperse seeds, recycle organic material, and serve as both predator and prey within local food webs.

However, one widely repeated claim needs correcting: current evidence does not support the idea that each opossum routinely eats thousands of ticks or significantly protects people from Lyme disease. That claim originated from a small captive experiment and was later challenged by a field-based diet study that found no ticks in 32 examined stomachs or in 23 previous studies of opossum diets.

Opossums deserve respect without exaggeration.

They are neither filthy monsters nor magical tick-removal machines. They are resilient wild animals performing ordinary but valuable ecological work—usually while trying to avoid humans, dogs, traffic, and the many other dangers surrounding them.

What Is a Virginia Opossum?

The Virginia opossum, scientifically known as Didelphis virginiana, is the marsupial most people in the United States and Canada encounter near forests, farms, roads, suburbs, and cities.

Marsupials give birth to extremely undeveloped young that continue growing while attached to nipples inside the mother’s pouch. Young opossums later travel in the pouch or cling to their mother’s back until they become independent.

Adult Virginia opossums are approximately the size of a domestic cat. Their most recognizable physical features include:

• A long, pointed face
• A pink nose
• Rounded, mostly hairless ears
• Coarse gray, white, or nearly black fur
• A long prehensile tail
• Five toes on each foot
• An opposable, thumb-like toe on each hind foot
• A total of 50 teeth

Those 50 teeth give the Virginia opossum more teeth than any other North American mammal. The impressive display is one reason a frightened opossum can appear much more dangerous than it normally is.

Opossums Are Not Rodents

Despite their rat-like tails and pointed faces, opossums are not rodents.

They are marsupials, making them more distantly related to animals such as kangaroos and koalas than to rats or mice. The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial naturally established across most of the United States and southern Canada.

The word “possum” is often used informally for the Virginia opossum in North America. However, true possums are a different group of marsupials native mainly to Australia and nearby regions.

They Are Built for Climbing and Foraging

An opossum’s prehensile tail can grip and stabilize its body, while its opposable hind toes help it hold branches.

Contrary to a familiar cartoon image, adult opossums do not normally sleep while hanging upside down by their tails. Their tails are useful for balance, climbing, and carrying nesting material, but an adult animal is generally too heavy to remain suspended comfortably for an extended period.

Virginia opossums are primarily nocturnal and solitary. They usually rest during the day in hollow trees, abandoned burrows, brush piles, buildings, or other protected spaces, then begin searching for food around dusk.

The Popular Opossum Tick Claim Is Not Supported by Strong Field Evidence

One of the internet’s most successful wildlife claims says that a single opossum can eat approximately 5,000 or 5,500 ticks in a season or week.

The message is repeated in social media posts, pest-control articles, garden groups, conservation campaigns, and even some institutional wildlife pages.

It is appealing for understandable reasons.

Ticks transmit serious illnesses. Opossums are frequently disliked or killed. A claim that transforms them into exceptionally effective tick-control animals appears to benefit both wildlife and public health.

Unfortunately, the evidence behind the number is much weaker than most posts acknowledge.

Where Did the “Thousands of Ticks” Number Come From?

The claim grew from a 2009 study examining how effectively different animals supported feeding by larval blacklegged ticks.

Researchers placed 100 larval ticks on each of five captive opossums and kept the animals in enclosures for four days. Only an average of 3.5 fully fed ticks per opossum dropped into the collection trays.

The researchers inferred that most of the remaining ticks had been removed and consumed during grooming. They then combined that estimated removal rate with field estimates of opossum tick burdens to calculate that an opossum might consume more than 5,500 larval ticks during a week of peak tick activity.

The problem is that the animals were not thoroughly checked for remaining ticks before release.

The missing ticks were assumed to have been eaten, but tick consumption was not directly confirmed through a complete examination of the animals, their stomach contents, or systematically collected feces.

What Did the Later Study Find?

A 2021 study published in Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases directly examined the stomach contents of 32 wild-sourced Virginia opossums from central Illinois.

Researchers searched the entire contents under a dissecting microscope for whole ticks or identifiable tick parts.

They found none.

The researchers also reviewed 23 earlier publications analyzing Virginia opossum diets. Those studies collectively included more than 1,000 animals and used stomach, digestive-tract, or scat analysis. None reported ticks as a diet item.

The authors concluded that ticks are not a preferred food of Virginia opossums and that the popular claim is not supported by field evidence.

Does That Mean an Opossum Has Never Eaten a Tick?

No responsible study can prove that no opossum has ever swallowed a tick.

An opossum could consume one accidentally while grooming, eating another animal, or ingesting surrounding material. The important question is whether opossums consume ticks frequently enough to function as meaningful biological tick control.

Current evidence does not demonstrate that they do.

It is therefore inaccurate to promise that allowing opossums into a yard will substantially reduce tick populations or lower a family’s Lyme disease risk. University of Illinois Extension specifically advises against attracting opossums with food for this purpose, because the same food may attract raccoons, rats, mice, feral cats, and other animals.

Opossums Can Carry Ticks

Virginia opossums are hosts for several tick species, including blacklegged ticks, American dog ticks, lone star ticks, and other parasites.

Their presence should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that a property is being cleared of ticks. An opossum may carry attached ticks just as many other mammals do.

The practical lesson is simple:

• Appreciate opossums as wildlife.
• Do not intentionally attract them as pest-control animals.
• Continue using evidence-based tick precautions.
• Check people and pets after time outdoors.
• Maintain vegetation and yard edges appropriately.
• Follow local health guidance in tick-prone areas.

Opossums do not need a sensational claim to justify their place in nature.

What Do Opossums Really Eat?

Virginia opossums are opportunistic omnivores.

They do not depend on one preferred food. Their diet changes according to season, habitat, geography, weather, and whatever resources are available.

Documented food categories include:

• Beetles and other insects
• Earthworms
• Snails and slugs
• Fruit
• Seeds and grains
• Leaves and grasses
• Amphibians
• Reptiles
• Eggs
• Birds
• Small mammals
• Carrion
• Pet food
• Household garbage

Stomach-content studies show that mammal tissue, fruit, seeds, vegetation, insects, worms, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and human-associated foods can all form part of their diet.

This flexibility is one reason opossums survive in habitats ranging from woodlands and wetlands to farms, industrial areas, suburbs, and crowded cities.

The Real Ecological Benefits of Opossums

Opossums perform several genuine ecological functions.

These roles may appear less dramatic than eating thousands of disease-carrying ticks, but they are better supported by observations of their diet and behavior.

They Scavenge Carrion and Organic Material

Opossums eat dead animals when they encounter them.

Scavenging helps move nutrients from carcasses back into the food web. It also removes some decomposing animal material from the environment, although it would be an exaggeration to describe opossums as complete sanitation systems or to claim that their presence makes an area disease-free.

They may also eat fallen fruit and other plant material that would otherwise decompose on the ground.

This is one reason they are sometimes described as nature’s cleanup crew. The description is reasonable as long as it is understood as a metaphor, not a promise that an opossum will solve a property’s waste or pest problems.

They Eat Numerous Invertebrates

Insects and other invertebrates make up a documented portion of the Virginia opossum’s diet.

Depending on local availability, opossums may eat beetles, grasshoppers, worms, snails, slugs, caterpillars, and other small organisms.

This feeding behavior can influence local invertebrate communities, although the effect will vary greatly by habitat and should not be described as guaranteed pest elimination.

An opossum is a generalist forager, not a targeted exterminator.

They Consume Some Small Vertebrates

Opossums may prey on small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and eggs.

Wildlife agencies also report that they sometimes consume mice, rats, moles, shrews, and snakes.

This does not mean every opossum regularly hunts all of these animals. Their diet is based largely on opportunity.

A slow-moving opossum is more likely to catch vulnerable, injured, trapped, nesting, or very small prey than to pursue healthy animals over long distances.

They Disperse Seeds

Because opossums eat fruit, they can transport seeds away from the original plant and deposit them elsewhere.

Virginia opossums have been identified as dispersers of undamaged seeds, including seeds from pawpaw and persimmon plants. This function can contribute to plant reproduction and movement across suitable habitats.

Seed dispersal is an easily overlooked ecological service.

A fruit-eating animal may carry seeds across property boundaries, forest edges, roadsides, or disturbed land, helping some plants reach new germination sites.

They Are Part of the Food Web

Opossums are not only consumers. They are also prey.

Owls, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, large snakes, domestic dogs, and other predators may kill or eat them.

This can feel uncomfortable to people who view ecological value only through services provided directly to humans.

Yet functioning ecosystems are built from relationships. A species contributes not only by eating organisms people dislike but also by feeding predators, dispersing plants, carrying nutrients, competing for resources, and occupying its natural niche.

Do Opossums Carry Rabies?

Opossums can contract rabies, but reported cases are uncommon.

CDC public-health materials specifically identify opossums among the animals that “hardly ever” have rabies. In the United States, the principal wildlife reservoirs are bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes—not opossums.

The relative rarity of rabies in opossums should not be confused with immunity.

A naturally acquired rabies case documented in a South American opossum demonstrated clearly that animals in the genus Didelphis can become infected.

Does Their Low Body Temperature Protect Them?

Virginia opossums maintain a lower body temperature than many similarly sized placental mammals.

Researchers have suggested that this lower temperature may make opossums less suitable hosts for the rabies virus. However, it is best described as a proposed contributing factor rather than a complete or proven explanation.

Other factors may also matter, including the animal’s ecology and whether it survives an attack from a rabid predator.

The accurate statement is:

Rabies is rare in opossums, but it is possible.

What Should You Do After a Bite or Scratch?

Never dismiss a wildlife bite because the species is considered low risk.

Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water, seek medical advice promptly, and contact the appropriate local public-health or animal-control authority. Officials can evaluate the species, circumstances, local rabies activity, and whether post-exposure treatment is necessary.

Rabies is almost always fatal after symptoms begin, but timely post-exposure care is highly effective at preventing illness.

Opossums Have Remarkable Resistance to Some Snake Venoms

Another extraordinary opossum trait is supported by scientific evidence: Virginia opossums possess natural resistance to the venom of several pit vipers.

A controlled study found that Virginia opossums survived exposure to venom from snakes including:

• Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes
• Western diamondback rattlesnakes
• Copperheads
• Cottonmouths
• Korean mamushi
• Central American moccasins

The animals did not survive exposure to every venom tested. Cobra, coral snake, puff adder, and sea-snake venoms were among those that proved fatal in the study.

The distinction is important.

Opossums are resistant to certain venom components; they are not invulnerable to all venomous snakes, all bite locations, or every quantity of venom.

How Does the Resistance Work?

Research has identified circulating proteins and inhibitors in opossum blood that can neutralize or reduce the effects of some venom toxins, particularly metalloproteinases and phospholipases associated with tissue damage and bleeding.

Scientists study these mechanisms partly because they may offer insights relevant to antivenom development and the broader biology of toxin resistance.

For the opossum, this adaptation provides an obvious survival advantage in habitats shared with venomous snakes. It may also allow opossums to prey on some pit vipers with less risk than most mammals would face.

Why Do Opossums Hiss and Show Their Teeth?

A cornered opossum may open its mouth, expose its teeth, hiss, growl, drool, or raise its fur.

These behaviors are usually warnings.

The animal is trying to look dangerous enough to persuade a person, dog, or predator to back away. Its display should not be interpreted as an invitation to approach, touch, photograph closely, or test whether it will bite.

Opossums can bite when captured, injured, or prevented from escaping.

However, their usual strategy is defensive rather than predatory. When possible, they generally prefer to flee, hide, climb, or discourage the threat without entering a physical fight.

Hissing Does Not Automatically Mean Rabies

Drooling and unsteady movement can cause people to mistake a healthy opossum for a rabid animal.

Opossums naturally move with a slow, waddling gait. When frightened, they may drool and hiss as part of a defensive display. Seeing one during daylight is also not, by itself, proof of illness.

Concerning signs include prolonged disorientation, repeated circling, severe injury, an inability to move normally, unusual paralysis, or remaining exposed and unresponsive for an extended period.

When uncertain, keep people and pets away and contact a wildlife professional.

What Does “Playing Possum” Really Mean?

When escape and intimidation fail, a severely threatened opossum may enter a catatonic, death-like state known as thanatosis.

The animal may:

• Collapse on its side
• Become limp and motionless
• Leave its eyes partly open
• Let its tongue hang out
• Drool
• Bare its teeth
• Release a foul-smelling fluid
• Remain unresponsive for minutes or hours

This response can discourage predators that prefer living prey or interpret the animal as diseased or decomposing.

Despite the phrase “playing possum,” the reaction is not generally considered a carefully planned performance. It is closer to an involuntary stress response that the animal cannot immediately end on command.

This creates danger near roads.

An opossum confronted by a vehicle, dog, or person may freeze or collapse rather than escape quickly, increasing its risk of being struck or attacked.

Are Opossums Dirty?

Calling any wild animal “dirty” is scientifically unhelpful.

Opossums groom themselves, but they also walk through soil, vegetation, carrion, garbage, feces, drainage areas, and other contaminated environments while foraging. Like other wildlife, they can carry fleas, ticks, internal parasites, bacteria, and disease-causing organisms.

That does not make them uniquely filthy.

Raccoons, rodents, birds, foxes, outdoor cats, and many other animals can also transport parasites or pathogens.

The appropriate response is ordinary wildlife hygiene:

• Do not touch or hand-feed wild opossums.
• Keep children and pets away.
• Wear gloves when cleaning contaminated areas.
• Secure garbage and animal feed.
• Wash hands after outdoor cleanup.
• Seek professional help with injured wildlife.
• Do not keep an opossum as an unlicensed pet.

Respecting an animal does not require pretending it carries no health risks.

Are Opossums Dangerous to People or Pets?

An opossum passing through a yard is generally not searching for a confrontation.

Its primary interests are food, water, shelter, and a safe route through the area. If people and pets give it space, it will often leave without incident.

Problems become more likely when:

• A dog corners it
• A person attempts to pick it up
• It is trapped in a garage or container
• A mother believes her young are threatened
• It is injured
• Food is repeatedly left available
• It gains access to poultry or animal housing

Cats and small dogs should not be allowed to investigate closely. Even a defensive bite can cause serious injury or infection.

Will Opossums Attack Chickens?

Opossums sometimes enter poultry housing to eat eggs, chicks, feed, or occasionally roosting birds.

They are not the only possible predator. Raccoons, foxes, coyotes, rats, snakes, domestic dogs, and other animals can also raid poorly secured coops.

A predator-resistant enclosure is more effective than trying to remove one suspected species. Wildlife agencies recommend solid construction, secure doors, strong mesh, protected ventilation, and tightly sealed feed containers.

How to Coexist With Opossums Around Your Home

An opossum occasionally crossing a garden or driveway usually requires no action.

It may stay in an area briefly while food is available and then move elsewhere.

The most effective approach is to remove accidental rewards rather than trap or harm the animal.

Secure Garbage

Use sturdy bins with tight-fitting lids. Close dumpster doors and consider securing household-bin lids when animals repeatedly gain access.

Once a reliable food source is removed, visiting opossums often stop returning.

Bring Pet Food Indoors

Pet food left outside overnight attracts opossums as well as raccoons, rodents, feral cats, skunks, and other wildlife.

Feed pets indoors when possible. If outdoor feeding is necessary, remove bowls and leftovers promptly.

Collect Fallen Fruit

Pick up excessive fallen fruit beneath trees, especially near houses, decks, and sheds.

Opossums naturally eat fruit, and a consistent supply can encourage repeated visits.

Protect Compost

Use a closed, wildlife-resistant compost system instead of leaving food scraps in an open pile.

Avoid adding meat, dairy products, or strongly scented cooked food unless the system is designed to contain them safely.

Seal Entry Points Carefully

Opossums may shelter beneath decks, sheds, porches, or buildings.

Before closing an opening, make certain no animal is inside and no dependent young will be trapped or separated from their mother.

A wildlife professional can install a one-way exclusion device when appropriate. Never seal an occupied den without confirming that the animal has left.

Keep Dogs Supervised at Night

Dogs are a major danger to opossums, and encounters can injure both animals.

Use a leash or inspect the yard before letting a dog outside after dark. Give any opossum a clear escape path rather than allowing a pet to corner it.

Do Not Feed Opossums Intentionally

Feeding may cause animals to associate homes and people with food.

It can also concentrate multiple wildlife species in one location, increasing conflict, parasite exchange, property damage, and road risk. Attracting opossums specifically for tick control is not supported by current research.

What Should You Do If You Find a Baby Opossum?

Young opossums may ride on their mother’s back, and one can occasionally fall off.

A juvenile that is already sufficiently large may be independent, while a very small animal may require assistance.

North Carolina wildlife officials advise contacting a licensed rehabilitator when:

• Live young are discovered in a dead mother’s pouch
• A lone juvenile is smaller than approximately seven inches in body length, excluding the tail
• The animal is visibly injured
• It is weak, cold, bleeding, or unresponsive

Do not attempt to raise it using cow’s milk, household foods, or internet feeding formulas. Marsupials have specialized nutritional and developmental needs, and incorrect care can cause serious harm.

What Should You Do If an Opossum Appears Dead?

Observe from a safe distance before moving the animal.

An opossum in thanatosis may appear completely dead and can remain unresponsive for a considerable time.

Keep pets and people away. When the threat disappears, the animal may recover and leave on its own.

If it is lying in a dangerous location, has obvious traumatic injuries, or does not recover, contact animal control, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or the relevant road or wildlife authority.

Avoid placing a possibly living opossum in a sealed bag or container.

Opossums Have Extremely Short Lives

Despite their resilience and impressive defenses, wild Virginia opossums usually live only about 1.5 to two years.

Young animals experience very high mortality, while adults face winter exposure, predation, vehicle collisions, dogs, disease, and food shortages. Captive individuals can live longer, but the typical wild lifespan is remarkably brief for an animal of their size.

Their short lives make their reproductive strategy easier to understand.

Females have a very short pregnancy and may give birth to numerous tiny young, but only those that reach and attach to an available nipple inside the pouch can survive the earliest stage.

Later, the growing juveniles emerge from the pouch and ride on the mother’s back before dispersing.

Why Accurate Opossum Advocacy Matters

The viral tick story improved the opossum’s public reputation.

It gave people a reason to reconsider an animal often treated with disgust or hostility. In that sense, the myth produced a positive cultural outcome.

But conservation based on misinformation is fragile.

When a claim is disproved, people may conclude that the animal has no value at all. Others may attract opossums to residential areas expecting a service the animals cannot reliably provide.

A stronger argument is based on ecological reality.

Opossums deserve humane treatment because they are native wildlife—not because they must earn survival by eliminating a human health threat.

They:

• Consume a broad range of plant and animal material
• Scavenge carrion
• Eat many insects and other invertebrates
• Disperse seeds
• Prey on some small animals
• Serve as prey for larger species
• Survive in heavily altered landscapes
• Possess unusual adaptations worthy of scientific study

None of these facts requires the claim that they eat 5,500 ticks.

Final Thoughts

Opossums are not the monsters their appearance sometimes suggests.

Their hissing is usually a warning. Their tooth display is primarily defensive. Their famous collapse is a stress response. Rabies is uncommon in them, although not impossible. Their resistance to several pit-viper venoms is real, but it does not protect them from every snake.

Most importantly, the claim that they consume thousands of ticks and significantly reduce Lyme disease risk should no longer be repeated as established fact.

Correcting that myth does not diminish the animal.

The Virginia opossum remains a remarkable marsupial capable of living beside forests, farms, suburbs, highways, and cities. It scavenges, forages, disperses seeds, interacts with predators and prey, and quietly occupies a place within ecosystems that existed long before anyone demanded proof of its usefulness.

It may never fit traditional ideas of beauty.

It may never receive the affection given to foxes, deer, or songbirds.

But when one crosses a yard at night, it is usually not bringing danger or asking for conflict. It is simply searching for its next meal while trying to survive another brief and difficult night.

That alone is reason enough to let it pass.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do opossums really eat thousands of ticks?

Current field evidence does not support the claim. A 2021 study found no ticks in the stomachs of 32 Virginia opossums and no reports of ticks in 23 earlier diet studies. The famous 5,500-tick estimate came from assumptions made after a small captive experiment rather than directly confirmed consumption.

Do opossums help prevent Lyme disease?

There is no strong evidence that opossums reduce human Lyme disease risk by consuming large numbers of ticks. Homeowners should continue using established tick-prevention measures rather than attracting opossums as biological control.

Do opossums carry ticks?

Yes. Virginia opossums can host blacklegged ticks, dog ticks, lone star ticks, and other species.

Are opossums beneficial?

Yes. Their documented ecological roles include scavenging, consuming varied plant and animal foods, dispersing seeds, and participating in food webs as both predators and prey.

Do opossums carry rabies?

They can, but reported rabies cases are rare. They should never be treated as completely immune, and any bite or scratch requires professional health advice.

Why is rabies uncommon in opossums?

Their lower body temperature has been suggested as one possible reason, but it is not a complete explanation. Ecology and survival after attacks by rabid animals may also influence reported infection rates.

Are opossums immune to snake venom?

They are naturally resistant to the venom of several pit vipers, including copperheads, cottonmouths, and some rattlesnakes. They are not resistant to every venomous species.

Do opossums eat snakes?

They sometimes eat snakes, including certain venomous species. Their venom resistance can reduce the risk posed by some pit vipers.

Why do opossums hiss?

Hissing is a defensive warning intended to make a threat move away. A frightened opossum may also bare its teeth, growl, drool, or raise its fur.

Will an opossum attack a person?

An unprovoked attack is unlikely. However, an opossum can bite when cornered, injured, captured, or handled. Give it space and an escape route.

What does playing possum mean?

It refers to the opossum’s death-like defensive state. Under extreme stress, the animal may become limp, unresponsive, and foul-smelling, causing some predators to lose interest.

Is playing dead voluntary?

It is generally considered a catatonic or involuntary stress response rather than a carefully chosen act that the opossum can start and stop immediately.

Why do opossums have so many teeth?

Their 50 teeth support an omnivorous diet and create an intimidating defensive display. Virginia opossums have more teeth than any other North American mammal.

Are opossums rodents?

No. Opossums are marsupials, not rodents.

Can opossums hang by their tails?

Their prehensile tails help with balance, climbing, and carrying nesting material. Adult opossums do not normally spend long periods hanging upside down by the tail.

Is it normal to see an opossum during the day?

Yes. Although primarily nocturnal, an opossum may forage during daylight, especially when food is limited or a mother needs additional energy. Daytime activity alone does not prove that the animal is sick.

Are opossums dirty animals?

They are wild animals that groom themselves but can carry parasites and encounter contaminated material while foraging. Avoid touching them and use normal wildlife hygiene.

Will opossums eat garbage?

Yes. They are opportunistic and may eat accessible household food waste, pet food, compost, or garbage. Secure containers to prevent repeat visits.

Do opossums kill chickens?

They occasionally eat eggs, chicks, or roosting chickens when they gain access to an insecure coop. A well-designed predator-resistant enclosure is the best protection.

Should I feed an opossum in my yard?

No. Feeding encourages repeated visits and can attract other wildlife, including rodents and raccoons. It may also increase conflict with pets, neighbors, and traffic.

How do I make an opossum leave?

Remove outdoor food, secure garbage, close pet doors, collect fallen fruit, and allow the animal time to move on. Do not corner or chase it.

Should I trap an opossum?

Trapping may be regulated and can separate mothers from young or relocate an animal into unfamiliar territory. Use exclusion and attractant removal first, and consult a licensed wildlife professional when necessary.

What should I do if my dog corners an opossum?

Bring the dog inside without approaching the opossum. Give the wild animal a clear route to escape. Check the dog for wounds and contact a veterinarian if physical contact occurred.

What should I do if an opossum bites me?

Wash the wound immediately with soap and water, seek medical care, and report the incident to local health or animal-control authorities.

How long do opossums live?

Wild Virginia opossums typically live only about 1.5 to two years, although captive individuals may survive longer.

How many babies do opossums have?

A female may give birth to numerous extremely small young, but only those able to reach the pouch and attach to an available nipple survive. Typical successful pouch litters are much smaller than the number initially born.

What should I do if I find a baby opossum?

Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator when the animal is very small, injured, cold, weak, or found inside a dead mother’s pouch. Do not attempt to feed it without professional guidance.

Why should people protect opossums if they do not eat thousands of ticks?

They are native wildlife with legitimate ecological roles, including scavenging, seed dispersal, insect consumption, and participation in food webs. An animal does not need to provide dramatic pest control to deserve humane treatment.