JaxJan 23
Nonya Bidniss
Jan 23 at 3:26amWeb
Show threadBirchensteinJan 23

@Nonya_Bidniss my story:
Springtime in the Midwest, so not cold.
My father had died a few months before. I was cleaning out his packrat garage. Took a box off a shelf and noticed it was warm. Opened it to see a snarling opossum mama. Closed the lid, set it outside, away from the garage. Checked after a couple of hours and the box was empty.

She couldn’t stay where she was, but I tried to be respectful in how she left.

Show threadThe Orange ThemeJan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss My yard was blessed with a possum friend years ago (when I had a yard heh). I loved seeing them out there snoofin' around eating all the ticks. Possums are friends. :3
Show threadPete JohansonJan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss love me some possums, don't disagree with most of this, but my understanding is the tick thing has been debunked? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/
Are Virginia opossums really ecological traps for ticks? Groundtruthing laboratory observations - PubMed

Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) are a common synanthrope in North America, and serve as host to many species of ectoparasites. Research on captive Virginia opossums estimated that opossums eat, on average, 5500 larval ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) per week. To investigate this apparent preference …

PubMed
Show threadEdelruth, PBS Passport HolderJan 23

@Nonya_Bidniss

I do love opossums. They are much less ugly in real life.

Show threaderi Jan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss opens the door to my house instead
Show threadSpycrabJan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss
"BITCH SHOULD HAVE PAID RENT"

*Ignites the large solid rocket motor I store in my garage; burning down the neighborhood*
Show threadFranklin LoganJan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss these guys are cute
Show threadJens Michael B.-HansenJan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss
You are obviously not in New Zealand.
If you were, I'm sure you would be thinking differently. Opossums were introduced from Australia to New Zealand back in the times by some ignorant people, probably English. They are now a threat to native birds and more for many reasons, one is ground nesting and no flying birds like the Kiwi.
Show threadTerrorBite 🦁Jan 23
@Onthebass @Nonya_Bidniss Australian possums are also not opossums, and don't eat ticks, they are herbivores.
Show threadshared public horse .not biteyJan 25
@TerrorBite The invasive possum species in Aotearoa is omnivorous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_brushtail_possum_in_New_Zealand  Certainly introduced by ignorant settler whites, though, and yeah, definitely not a poor, chilly Virginia opossum  
@Onthebass @Nonya_Bidniss
Common brushtail possum in New Zealand - Wikipedia

Show threadkopimiJan 23

@Nonya_Bidniss as far as I know the claim about ticks comes from a lab study from 2009 which was not confirmed. Later studies of stomach content of wild individuals did not confirm that found no ticks in the diet.

@Tarnport

Show threadDB SchweinFeb 16

@kopimi @Nonya_Bidniss @Tarnport

They do eat ticks as well as whatever other bugs are around, but the ~5000 was an estimation based on an experiment when they were put in a box with nothing but ticks. So yeah.

Still worth not harming or killing!

Show threadNosirrahSec 🏴‍☠️ guillotine enthusiastJan 23

@Nonya_Bidniss They're surprisingly friendly, too!

I have accidentally pet one thinking it was a cat when I was younger.

I have also done this with a skunk.

On second thought, I might be like Dr. Dolittle...

Show threadDaisyJan 23
@Nonya_Bidniss Thank you! Didn't know everything, nice to read this. We actually would never make trouble for an animal (we collect any bugs and spiders and put them into the garden, unless it's really cold). But good to know more.
Show threadneville parkFeb 16
@Nonya_Bidniss Opossums don't actually eat thousands of ticks; that was a flawed study. More here: https://flipping.rocks/@nev/110611517686321118
neville park (@[email protected])

Paper explaining & debunking 2009 tick study: Hennessy C, Hild K. Are Virginia opossums really ecological traps for ticks? Groundtruthing laboratory observations. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. (2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101780 :ClosedAccess: (but on :scihub: ) More about opossums, including reproduction: Krause & Krause. The Opossum: Its Amazing Story (2006) https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/15130/OpossumItsAmazingStory.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Opossum photo: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112463822

flipping.rocks
Show threadMartin Vermeer (not Jesus)Feb 16

@Nonya_Bidniss They also like cats ❤️

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Possum%27s_Book_of_Practical_Cats

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - Wikipedia