Opossums, the Marsupial Evolutionary Wonder of America 

What is this about not elegant, not graceful, not wonderful? Opossums are ADORABLE. They make it on my list!

0:28 "and while it may not be beautiful" cut to a picture of a regular opossum looking adorable

"and while it may not be beautiful" HE SAYS WHILE SHOWING THE CUTEST OPOSSUM I'VE EVER SEEN

It's 4:30 AM and I'm watching a man teach about opossums...it's a good morning. Love this guy

Because of opossums my grandfather never had to worry about slugs and snails in his garden.

0:33 “and while it may not be beautiful of charismatic” possum trying his best smile in background like it’s picture day.

I raised 3 opossums after their mother died. We had no place to take them to so we kept them. They would run around my house at night and have all kinds of fun. EVERY night they would get in my bed and jump on me and slap me in the face until I woke up and gave them a piece of candy! They would beg just like a dog. Then they would go back to bed. They would use the litter box and had NO smell. They were the cleanest pets I have EVER owned and NEVER once bit me or anyone else! I tried to let them go but every time I opened my door they would run in and refuse to go back outside. I live in a city and the people would kill them if they could! Once they knew I had 3 of them they would insist I bring them to every party so they could play with them! From then on everyone started leaving food out for other opossums. I guess you could say they saved a lot of opossums lives! They lived about 4 years before they died and I miss them terribly! Rest in peace little guys! 😞

I had a possum that I found with her deceased momma that I kept and raised.. she was so tiny idk how I kept her alive. Anyway I didn’t feel like she’d survive on her own so I kept her as a pet.. thank goodness for google. She was the sweetest pet and I absolutely loved her. She ran around my house potty trained and all..I had her three years until she passed away. Before her I always saw possums as pests but now they are my fave little animals. They are fascinating and nature’s pest control.

Opossums keep the slugs and snails out of my garden, anyone with a garden should want them around, my dogs that watch over the property been taught to leave them alone and they do. The way I see it, it's free help and as the saying goes, use what nature provides.

"the modern opossum was once a contemporary of the sabertooth tiger" I find that so hilarious because opossums are just like :V

I'm nocturnal myself, so I've had many opportunities to observe my backyard Opposums clean up around the bird feeder. I find them to be charming, adorable & interesting. I don't find them ugly at all, however, when they are at the end of their lives they do seem to look quite disheveled. If any of my neighbors even knew that we have so many different nocturnal animals, they wouldn't sleep a wink. Every month some imbecile or another claims "the Coyotes are back again"' as though they may have gone on vacation & somehow returned. They don't realize that our Coyotes follow the creek bed as they hunt between 2-4 a.m. Thanks, this was a great documentary which I enjoyed immensely.

I love opossums so much

I once found a baby possum in my yard several years back. I named him Raul. I fed him hotdogs, and he hissed at me. It was great!

Opossums eat my cats leftover dry food while they sit by and watch them! It's almost like they're part of the family. They're so cute.

It really sucks that they live so little. Such a short lifespan :(

I live in northern Massachusetts and I love the possums and feed a family of them every night on my second floor deck. They come up there for protection at night. I give them food and water, they love their sweet grapes, all year round. I also have 2 neighborhood cats that I feed and they all get along pretty well. In the winter, I have a heated house for them to sit in on cold nights. I believe I am on my fifth generation of one family, however I've never seen more than 3 babies at a time. They just keep bringing their kids every year. I love them.

Thank you for this. Very, very educational. Also, they're adorable.

I once stopped highway traffic last month to help get a young opossum out of the road. It made me feel good to have helped

I love this guy. He’s so knowledgeable and eager to teach us all about possums.

imagine that, they've existed millions of years ago and still have a life span of about 2 years. the wonders of nature.

I’m late to the comments by 4 years lol but I had to say this is great to see time and education dedicated to these animals they are amazing it always brings me happiness to see them! Some of the most pleasant and advantageous animals

I have a possum here at my house, and I love it! I think possums are so cute! They also eat ticks, and clean up left over cat and chicken food, keeping the rat population down.

I’ve come to appreciate the Opossum. I’ve had one that hung around my house, since a neighbor was feeding feral cats. In small town central USA, it wasn’t uncommon for me to come across them. That was my first time ever being that close to one however. That stray opossum was the humblest little sweetheart. I would come home late at night and see that little buddy roaming around. It was a sad time for me when I saw it finally passed after a couple of years. It was a constant for me to see them when I came home and they seemed to thrive in our little stray neighborhood. I think I love them now. Thank you for this beautiful video. I wish I had seen this video sooner. But now I see that opossum I had living near me, more then likely lived a full life. Relatively stress free since they lived in the same area for so long.

they are so pretty and so friendly , and never bother anyone , and are much more able than they appear to be !

I think they are beautiful. I had one visit me this summer a few times. I feed the birds and he was quite content to clean up their mess. I was about four feet from him and he was fine. He even listened when I told him he was beautiful. My neighbours think I’m crazy because I talk to all the critters I have in my yard everyday but the neighbours obviously don’t see what I see in all these beautiful characters. Nature is just awesome!🥰❤️

I had an opossum friend. He was still a juvenile when he found his way into my house. While he was still small enough to get through the hole in the floor, I would put a bowl of food out for him, whenever I saw him. I never tried to socialize him, but he did come to see me as not a threat, and would come by my house periodically. My room mate was afraid of him, but he would come up to near touching distance to me while going about his business. I felt so privileged to have had that experience. I still get opossums coming by from time to time, and I find them to be fascinating animals to observe. I once had a Brazilian mouse possum for a pet. I very much enjoyed sitting on the couch in my living room with her, and playing with her, for as long as she lived. If you have an opossum around, respect their space, pay attention to the cues they give you, and keep your distance to something they are comfortable with.

I love opossums and think they’re amazing! How cool is it that we have a marsupial in the US! I have had a few pet opossums and they’re actually very sweet.

A lifespan of 2-3 years? Wow, we must look like immortals to them.

Opossums inspire me! Their resilience over time and usefulness to the environment, plus the fact they are North America's only marsupial, make them my favorite animals. I used to be a wildlife rehabber and have raised and released many opossums over the years. They are wonderful!

COME ON PEOPLE, RESPECT NORTH AMERICA'S ONLY MARSUPIAL ALREADY! REALY!!!

I found a opossum the other day. Larger than a lot of dogs. 25-30 pounds maybe. Died in the road. I buried him. Seemed only right. Couple days later I saw a juvenile in the yard. It made me smile.

I met a possum in my shack and sat and talked to him/her for about an hour until he/she felt comfortable enough to walk right past me and out the door. I guess what I had to say wasn’t interesting enough. Lol

Had one as a pet named Hoover. He was outside never inside and I fed him and he had a warm winter box in the winter. What a delightful pet.

I absolutely love opossums. We have opossums in our yard every night and they are very sweet. We found a blind opossum with foxtails in his eyes. He was a big old man but he managed to adapt to living with us and became quite friendly. He lived two years with us and we still miss him.

I came here because I just met one of these guys in my backyard. I’m in love. My cat didn’t even react to him. They just chilled together until he roamed some more and left 😍 I haven’t been so in love with an animal since I saw my first raccoon!!

“Living fossil” is a really awesome way of putting it. Love these creatures, had a young one bite me as a kid because I poked it as it lay on the ground (clearly a stupid move) and I still find them to be so cute and crucial (thousands of ticks!!!) to our ecosystems here in Bama. Much love for the possums, and the makers of this fine content!!

"While it may not be beautiful and charismatic-" *shows a picture of the most beautiful and charismatic opossum* Do we live on the same planet? opossums are perfect.

I've been thinking about what he said about NOT feeding the opossums that live on my property - which I have been doing for several months. They live here because I have a huge avocado tree and used to feed a feral cat that eventually died. I don't see how I can quit now because he expects his food every night after the cats come in. The upside is I no longer have any snails eating my flowers or leftover cat food to throw away - the downside is he sleeps in the tree and craps on my patio umbrella. My concern now is the possibility of having 13 (!) or more of them instead of just 2...which could happen anyway because of the avocado tree! Ah heck, I can't just quit feeding them now that they are so healthy looking - which they weren't when I started doing this.

i just wanna say i really love how informative this short documentary was! the bits of conversations with the woman on the phone were very good too and definitely gave good insight on what to do if any of us viewers encountered these issues. also getting multiple members part of the center and not just ed himself! great work you guys!

This was so enlightening. I already loved opossums and this just made me appreciate them more. Thank you.

I like old grandpas like this 🙏 love to listen stories like this

I went for a walk last June early in the morning around 530 and came across a mother possum with little baby possum faces all along her spine and two were hanging off the side of her, one on each side of her. It was so shocking and scary at first because I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at and then it was adorable of course. She started scolding me with a “tst” sound so I went on my way. So amazing to see in person.

Everyone I know thinks opossums are ugly, I think they’re super cute!

I have recently developed a fondness for Opossums lately, they are very helpful to their ecosystem, and now I think they are cute too.

Wish more people knew about them. Too many people believe old myths. Ridiculous to hurt them. 😢 The one he’s holding is hungry 🥰 I love their little sneeze sounds when they’re hungry.

I did not know about their affinity for clearing out Ticks. I am actually quite impressed with the knowledge in this video

God bless these people who care for the wee ones. Thank you for your talents and love.

we had 3 rescue Opossums that we saved from a mother's pouch. They are so smart and adorable. Their personalities are like a mix of cat and ferret.

My boyfriend and I have a family of Opossum living under my boyfriend mobile home and they come out just after dark and eat the cat food that we put out for our cats.

This man is an expert & explains the animals very well. Shows respect, & I respect him.

POSSUMS MAKE THE BEST PETS EVER!! Litter box trainable and very loving. Especially the Males . STINKY was my favorite pet ever and miss him dearly. So sad their lifespans are so short 😣

The live a life of peace making the world a better place for others. Humans could learn alot from the magnificent opossum.

I love opossums and I think they are beautiful! Their hands and little pink noses are so adorable 😍

What a wonderful video so educational and so nice to have caring people not only call in to your centers but caring people like you guys to take care of them. Thank you so much for helping them. We love this.❤

I think the possums are beautiful in their own way

My mom has a few cats, and tends to leave cat food out on the porch. Of course, this attracts animals like opossums and raccoons, especially with the water bowl out there, as well. Many years ago, there was one opossum that frequented the porch, so she took to feeding it whenever it was around. Eventually, it came to the point where it would happily sit on her lap as she fed and pet it. She loved that opossum. Sadly, one night, it was out on the porch and my mom opened the door to go be with it, only for one of the dogs to push her out of the way and attack it. I think she cried more then than when we had to put down one of our dogs when it had pancreatic cancer.

Very informative. Amazed to learn how many ticks one oppossum can take out. More oppossums less ticks. Great video on oppossums.

Possums are my number 1 favorite animal!!! Growing up in Appalachia I’ve always adored them

I 💙💚💜 possums! They are docile, smart, & very clean! Please respects these sweet misunderstood animals.

This week a very young possum showed up on the carport to eat some cat food. He's as big as my hand is long. I have seen him 4 times, so today I cut up some apple for something different in his diet. The cats don't bother him, but we also have several raccoons in the area. I hope our little guy doesn't get attacked by one of them.

Interesting and educational.

They are adorable and lovely creatures. I wish they lived longer than 3 years.

Wow, I'm one of those people who would have thrown something like an apple core out along the road since it's "food" not "trash/litter". I figured that, if anything, I would be doing some animal a service and did not stop to think about whether it would draw animals to the road where it's dangerous. Thank you for bringing up this issue and I'll keep this is mind in the future.

One of my greyhounds has herded three opossums through the dog door into my house three times this year. I am proud to say I have captured all three and ushered them back into safety successfully. It is a rude awakening to wake up to one in your bedroom but since I know they are harmless,, I grab a bit more sleep then usher them out later on.

I'm here cause there is one of this animals walking on the roof of my house and climbing among tree branches next to my house, got an eye on it just to make sure dogs don't do anything to it. Very interesting animal.

Such amazing creatures.

I really learned so much from this video. Really well presented by the director and his staff.

Awe! I love how he has the sneezes as he smells the guys shirt!

I do not understand why the O. has a bad reputation. The O. is a unique, singular animal.

As an immigrant to the USA from South Africa with a great appreciation for the magnificent species in Africa, I just LOVE the Opossum!! They have the most endearing faces, unobtrusive and so beneficial to our gardens. 💕💕

I love them, they are so cute and goofy looking. Just visited Virginia, hoped to see some but wasn’t lucky. Wish we had them here in the U.K. Those sweet little hands, cross eyes and whiskers, what’s not to love?

I had a tree stump in my backyard that I Christened "THE OFFERRING STUMP." Anytime that I had leftover steak, chicken or salmon from the grill, I would place it on the offering stump at sunset. I took a lot of nice photos of the neighborhood possums eating at "THE STUMP." When they are stretched out with their feet on the ground and their arms on the stump, they look, for all the world, like panda bears! 🙂

I have opossums visit us to eat dry cat food my wife puts out, we think they are adorable and so very valuable.

I'm a big possum fan! One of my favorite animals to see around actually!

Wonderful video, and the information is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!! We live out in the boonies on 50 acres of mostly wooded land surrounded by ranch land, and our house is isolated by distance from our neighbors. We have a couple of opossum, one very large (I call it Waddles) and one younger/smaller (Possy), that stop by and clean up the leftover feral cat food I leave on our back steps, when there’s any left. We’ve interrupted their evening snack quite often, and they’ve become very accustomed to us talking to them. They’ll listen for a little while: the older one seems more interested in conversing. They both eventually finish their snack or get tired of listening and amble down the steps and either waddle back under the house, or start the longer trek towards our barn, usually making a stop under the bird feeder to check for fallen seeds. They are very interesting critters! Our resident opossums don’t appear to have very sharp vision - sometimes they act like they can’t really see where they’re going; but their sense of smell is obviously well developed. After interacting with and watching our pair wander around for a few months now, they don’t give the impression of being the brightest bulbs on the light string; but that’s part of their charm! ❤️

Opossums were my favorite animal as a little kid--grasping with her tail, lugging babies on her back--they easily make my list!!

With adult opossums moving about in a slow though unpredictable saunter if a driver takes reasonable precautions and gives them a wide berth they should be able to prevent them from being roadkill. We need to give these charming creatures a fighting chance for a reasonably long period of survival in their environment.

What are you talking about?! Opossums are adorable! How can you not love the little beauties?!

German biologist here. Subscribed to the channel immediately. Great educational work.

Opossum are my favorite animals, they’re adorable with their round ears and cute hands, love ‘em!

I have never seen one in my life. We don't have them in Puerto Rico but since a little kid I love Opossums. Every opportunity I go to the states I look for them to no avail. I congratulate you for such a great information and well delivered showing your love to your wildlife. God bless you for creating this foundation so much needed. I will look for your foundation in the web.

They are beautiful!!! I love Opossums. we had one that lived in our garage for years.

Personally, I always considered them so cute!

I adore Possums~! They are so cute and so derpy! Long Live the Virginia Opossum ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

gosh I really wanted one as a pet for a few months now. They’re such loveable creatures and they’re really just so great, but I realize they do need to stay in the wild. I love them a lot and they deserve to stay wild

Thank you for sharing this video! It’s so important to learn, not just in Virginia either! I sometimes see them here in California and I never know what to do! This is very informative and now I feel more confident on how to respond and feel the next time I see those cuties!

I love hearing about our wildlife and think possums are neat! I hope to see more videos like this, and maybe even longer ones.

My possum Laura just passed away. She lived for 4.5 years. 😭 she was best pet you can ever wish for. For those that do find abandoned baby and decide to keep one as a pet please do your research on the possum diet. Very important!!

They're so cute! Precious babies!

Opossums are adorable and nobody can change my mind

Very informative video! Thanks for taking the time to produce it and for sharing. New subscriber here.

I just rescued an injured baby.. He's doing great. Im learning so much about these amazing creatures. Im in love with my little monkey man.. :)

My cats get along with the possums that we feed. I guess cats just think possums are ugly cats lmao

This made me love opossums more than I already did.

This video has been highly informative and entertaining. Thank you for the education!

Excellent video, everybody should watch this. Very informative. People need to learn how valuable these critters can be to have around.

Great mini docu and great work you guys do over there at the rehability center.. Thank you for caring!

that opossum that guy was holding looked like he was trying to tell him that he wants cuddles and not big gloves! lol

Opossums & Raccoons come traipsing thru my backyard at dusk. I love to watch the baby raccoons try to play with the big opossums tails. It is too cute. I sprinkle vinagar & baking soda in my trash bags. It keeps all the critters out of my garbage bins. Thank you for the excellent info. I really learned a lot!

Wow, simply amazing.... I have a feeder system set up for wildlife and sometimes they come visit for some squash or apples 😊And yes, they love to visit the barn and look for left over kitty kibble!