Opossums are great animals. They keep to themselves and eat all the bugs in your yard. Please be kind if you see one. They will not hurt you. Thank you.
yes, opposums are cool little animals, and highly misunderstood...but saying they won't hurt you is not at all correct. If you attempt to corner and touch a wild possum they can definitely bite and scratch, and if a grown wild possum approaches you aggressively, especially in the day, it is quite possibly rabid.
When I was homeless and living on the porch of an abandoned house my best friend was a mamma possum and her two pups. We spent alot of nights together listening to music shows at the Rose Music Hall just down the street. Best of times. FAM.
The only crappy thing about Opossums is that their life spans are way too short. 😢 I hope you are now an official Opossum rescue caregiver! And thank you for having such a good heart. ❤
Yes. They don’t get rabies, cancer or any other diseases. Which is probably why their lifespan is short. They’re here for a reason. Science just hasn’t discovered it.
@@kathleensue1 - I did not know that. Theory being they don’t live long enough to develop all of the terrible diseases? It does seem a bit like a cosmic trade-off.
@@7thMack Some diseases are like that, yes. Animals that live less than ten years or so do not develop heart disease and such, because the plaque that causes those diseases takes many years to build up in your body. No rat has ever died of a stroke, probably never will, either. They do, however, develop cancer very easily. They're actually notable for being the ONLY animal that develops skin just from UV light alone. It makes them good study subjects for how human skin cancer works.
Sure she loves him and takes good care of him, but they aren’t “stressed” in the wild. They know instinctively how to survive. I think you’re mistaking excess weight for being healthy. you can shorten their lives if you keep them as pets due to what people feed them and lack of exercise. It’s better just to let them live happily in the wild. We wanna make everything a pet these days.
They aren't "stressed" in the wild. They do their jobs very well until humans interfere with that by being "afraid" of them and shot or relocate them. In this case, these opossums aren't healthy. They are overweight and their eyes are crossed, sometimes a sign of early onset of Metabolic Bone Disease. And most rehabbers keep the babies wild while rehabbing them in order to re-release to the wild. I didn't hear this woman state if or why they weren't releasable. She is just collecting animals at this point.
@@DesantisgogobootsOf course they're stressed in the wild. They're constantly on the lookout for predators and having to go days without a successful search for food on regular occasions.
The therapeutic value of animals should never be underestimated. The unconditional love received from them is worth more than anything else in the world.
I admire that people are willing to accept that opposums have such short lifespans, but are still willing to love and care for them with all their hearts. It's amazing, and I thank all of them for educating us about how great opposums really are.
I had a wild possum pal that passed not long ago. Only took about 10 minutes to make friends with him. He ended up getting so fat, he waddled as he walked, just strutting. So his name ended up being Pimp Daddy P. He stayed wild, but I'd let him in on really cold or stormy nights. He was always a sweetie. Liked cuddles and naps. He also really liked hot wings. Not the mild kind either. I'd give him a bowl of them (sans bones) and a saucer of milk. He'd stop and cool his tongue for a bit, then go back for more. Feels like you barely get to know them before theyre gone. But if you can handle that aspect, then they make amazing little fuzz-buds.
I just met a rescued opossum yesterday for the first time. VERY shiny, soft fur in the sunlight. VERY loving and sweet. Their little hands are super primate-like (gripping) with soft palms. I was blown away! The folks that I met said their opossum uses the cat litter box. I think many people would prefer the size and personality of these little guys over many popular pets. Bless you for your work!
That 2-4 years is the hardest part about raising opposums. They have such a stigma as being gross and nasty but in reality they are big teddy bears and just afraid
I had no idea they had such a short life span. No fair! I love rats and you're lucky to get 3 yrs out of them. They are so smart, sweet and funny. Seems like both of these critters need to be with us longer so we can enjoy and learn from them.
Yes, it's not fair. rats and possums..love them both. I've been doing a little research project w my rats, I've started giving them a mushroom tincture to see if it will impact their overall health and lifespan. A few had some myco symptoms and the mushrooms completely cleared them up and has kept it in check since! Just an fyi.
I’ve read that opossums have short life spans because it’s so dangerous. Because they’d probably end up attacked by a predator long before reaching four years old, none of them have ever really ‘needed’ stuff that allows for a longer lifespan. They leave mom, they become adults, they find a honey, they have a ton of kids and…then they’re done. Sort of like how rabbits do it…if even two of your kids make it out you’re golden. They’ve found isolated populations of opossum that live for longer because they don’t have the predators.
“…I already think about when they’ll pass.” That’s exactly the reason why I couldn’t get another dog. I had a puppy from the shelter and he was with me for 17 years. He died last Oct of liver disease. It broke me in a million pieces.
I completely understand and share your feelings. It took me six years to get another cat once mine passed away. He had so much personality and was like a friend and a family member who hung out on my lap! But hopefully one day you will be able to give love to another animal. There are so many out there who need love.
I had a cat when I was 10, he died when I was 25 and in college. I don't think I'll ever love a cat like him. After he passed I swore off keeping pets because I didn't want to deal with them dying again. About a year ago I'm on my porch and a orange tabby comes up to me, I felt bad for it so I gave it some tuna. This really friendly kitty wouldn't leave. I had a choice: call the high kill pound or adopt him, I couldn't bring myself to give him to the pound so now he's my cat. The universe has a interesting way of challenging you, of forcing you to open up again.
I umderstand. My cat friend of 21 yrs died last August. He had been my best friend since he was 7 weeks old, slept on my shoulder every night & was there to greet me whenever i returned from errands. He hated being alone, & after his sister/twin died at age 17, he was unhappy if i went out for even an hour. But about two months after he died, a local rescue called to ask if I'd take in a 14 yr old snowshoe cat who had been left by her human family & had nowhere to go. All the foster homes were overcrowded & there was no one else who could take her. Life or death situation. I couldn't refuse. She hasn't replaced my 21 yr old cat, but I'm very glad i was asked to take her. Having her with me has helped with the grief. And there are always cats & other animals who desperately need homes. There aren't enough homes for them & they will not live long unless you take them. Right now it's especially dire for cats & dogs who are being left at animal shelters because there are too many to find homes for. A lot of people who adopted a cat or dog to keep them company during covid lockdown are now dropping these animals at shelters. Shelters are overcrowded & desperately need more people to adopt these.
I found a baby possum back in 2002,it was with its dead mother and I chose to take it home, fed it fruit and veggies and later alpo dog food, raised her with cats and they all got along, played, ate together, she was a beautiful girl.oved her. Let her return to the wild after she was full grown. She came back to thank me
I did the same thing when I was about 12. It was an abandoned baby under our porch. I named it Otis after the elevator company that I had just been in at a store. After a few weeks it got bigger and we turned it loose in a field. I was worried it was going to bite me since they have that scary set of teeth.
@@stevefarrington5618Bleed? Please explain to me because we have possums in our yard that we feed and I need to know this in case I encounter an orphaned baby.
@@BirdTalk13 when they are baby’s you take a hand towel and move it back and fourth the that move they call the floss. This will cause their bladder to relax and they urinate. Another thing is avoid solid foods. I used baby dog formula in a bottle. You can’t squeeze it down their throats or it can go in their lungs, put a drop on the end of the dropper and they’ll do the rest. Don’t over feed or double feed, weigh them before and after feeding. You can find how much they should weigh before and after online. Mine are still alive and healthy. Good luck and God Bless you for your kindness to Gods creatures.
My daughter had an opossum living on the porch of an abandoned house behind her and she would always give him some food and we named him Bob. He was sooo cute 🥰
I came to have a tiny opossum, he had to be fed every 3 or 4 hrs at first. I guess I was lucky that Grady O'possum lived to be about 4 1/2. He was the sweetest roommate!
Opossums are truly lovely animals, gentle and very very useful. They get a bad press because they look quite fierce if cornered, but actually they wouldn't hurt a fly. Wendell is absolutely wonderful.Thank you for saving him.
I have to tell you that l agree with you completely, Wendell is adorable. He is like a teddy bear - you just wanna hug & kiss him. I'm impressed by how well you care for him. He looks extremely healthy & thank you for not allowing him to suffer, when you found him on his side. VERY KIND OF YOU. Wow. You're a great caregiver & mom. He looks so happy.
I'm a crazy cat lady in NH but love all animals they are my passion in life. Wendell is very cute, bless you for rescuing him and giving him a good life.
It's sad that the life span of a opossum is not that long from what I've read hopefully Wendell will beat that and live past what they say being loved by his special person that loves and cares for him will help him beat the odds I'm sure.
I had no clue they have such short life spans ouch. She's going to miss that lovebug. Atleast she saved his life and while alive she brought enjoyment to his life. 👋🏼
they are effectively on the bottom of te food chain similar to rats. so they chose a highly porudctive life cycle to maximize population growth over long lifespans.
The short life span is so unfare on these adorable critters. They really do seem like lovebug teddy bears. Wishing you the longest time possible with your furbabies. Love from Australia.
@@storkeywilliams Aussie possums bare no resemblance to Opossums. They may be pretty, but they're not cuddle monsters; and they don't help out in the garden.
@@michellevanderbyl Do your homework. Possums like Opossum feed on ticks hence one of the main reasons why the Possum is a protected species in Australia. Both are marsupials similar but different. Size and colour. Different Orders.
You know how much you love an animal when you think about their passing. But that means you love them so much that you take every moment you have with them as precious and you don't take them and the unconditional love they give you for granted. ❤
They have many predators in the wild so biology didn't select for a long lifespan? Although marsupials are so unusual that may not be the reason either.
When I was young, we had a huge hole in the floor in the kitchen that my dad never fixed. He just put a board across it so we wouldn't fall in. He was always a minimal-effort kind of dad. Anyway, my mother had schizophrenia and would regularly have hallucinations, so one day when she started screaming that there was a possum in the kitchen, my dad just told her to calm down, she was just seeing things again. But she kept insisting there was a possum in the kitchen. My dad sighed and got up and went in there, and sure enough, there was indeed a possum in our kitchen. He shooed it back out the hole with the broom. I'm glad he didn't hurt it because my dad never was super nice to most animals. He did have a soft spot for smaller animals like parakeets and hamsters.
Dolly is such a beautiful, loving person and she raised Wendell with such loving care that he is a loving soul as well .. I hope he lives a good long time, for both his and Dolly's sake, such a beautiful rescue story 💞💞💞💞
Bless you for caring for the possums! Maybe with more people interested in taking care of them, providing quality foods and vet care, their little life spans will improve. Hoping so!
Here in the UK we don't have these so it looks all the more bizarre but they are so wonderful! All praise and love to this lady for being such a caring beautiful soul.
Opossums and raccoons love to supplement with cat food! I've got two opossums that come and check our cat's food bowl on the back porch every night! We live on the edge of a wildlife preserve and woods. They don't bother the cats, just quietly eat their meal and go their separate ways. They're actually more calm than the cats sometimes if the opossum is getting a little too close the cat will let it be known & the opposum will politely leave, so long as they've at least gotten a few bites of food.. When one of the 2 opossums leaves, every single time instead of taking the somewhat steep stairs he takes the side where there is a little ramp under the handrail just large enough to fit a cat or opossum, it never fails-it's funny! Now both opossums take the ramp both ways. I used to scare them off long ago but now I just let them eat.
💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛 You are both adorable. Thank you for this. It's definitely not quantity but quality. And, the light that burns twice as bright always seems to burn half as long.. I lost my Denver Dog 2 months ago, and we're never the same, but priceless are the prints on our heart...🐾🐾🐾🐾
💕 Opossums are the sweetest, most misunderstood Animals. They are Not rodents, they are Not vicious & they don't carry rabies. I hope that more people will now see them differently & try to help them if needed, rather than hurt them. Thank you for the video. ❤ 🐾🐾
Oh Wendell just melted my heart..and speaking of hearts, you are a dear woman with a huge heart of gold to share your farm and open it up to animals in need of love and care. Thank you for all you do! I wish Wendell many more happy experiences with you! He is just such a snuggly sweetheart!
For years I had opossums in my yard and they eventually all died or moved on. A couple weeks ago, I went out to my side porch to feed my feral cats and there was an opossum! I was thrilled to see her/him. I feed him can dog food and fresh fruits & veggies. I'm hoping with warmer weather, I can sit out on the porch and make friends with her/him! Hugs from PA. ❤️❤️❤️
Same lol I have a possum that eats some of the cat food i put out for the strays, he actually gets along with the cats way better than the cats get along with each other its adorable to look out and just see the cats chilling and the possum munching on some food.
It seems like them and the racoons have a truce with the cats. I always thought it was because the cats were smarter, but then I realized that I was talking about cats, lol.
Wendell is a cutie. I have opossums that hang out around my house and eat the feral cats' food. They get used to you and just kinda watch you. They eat ticks so they're welcome here anytime!
Same here. I have Lyme Disease so the more opossums in my yard the happier I am. I think they are adorable, too. I give them sliced apples, berries, and bananas along with the cat food.
Same here! I feed the feral cats in the garage. One night my 17 yr old JRTs (2 brothers) cornered one on the porch swing. It just sat there after I called the dogs off for hrs. So I finally took it a variety of nuts and snacks, and set it down next to it. It kind of hissed at me. In the morning all the snacks were gone. They seem to like apples. I saw that on the groundhog, Chunk, channel.
I love opossums! Thank you for rescuing him. They get dealt a bad hand in life but people don't understand how affectionate and trainable they are. I hope people watch this video and change their minds about opossums! Take care now 😃
What a beautiful sharing heart you have. It was a Blessing for Wendell and you both to have each other. It's a great video of Love. Thank you for sharing with us!❤❤❤❤❤
I love possums! I have rescued many, from babies to full grown that couldn't walk because of injuries. Yes it take a while to learn about them, but so worth it once you do. I was put on this earth to help them anyway I can. I am thankful that more and more people are understanding these misunderstood creatures. They are so sensitive, look can be so decivieing. Thank you for this video, it made me happy. 💝
Bless, something heart warming like this reassures me that there are decent caring people out there. Well done, they both look so happy, with short lifespans I’m sure you have given them enough care and love that they would not have got otherwise. You are a great person, and it shows. Thanks for the video x
Wendell, what a happy Possum ! He's got love to give and love he'll get back ! That's really super ! God's creation of all animals great and small ! Wendell may not live long physically but it's what he puts in your heart ! Live em all and thanks for caring and sharing !
Opossums are SO cool! I love them! We have them in our yard all the time. I think our cat thinks they're her friends!! 🤗 God bless Dolly for saving these beautiful Animals!!❤
I think one of the best things about Opossums is their dietary range. They basically eat anything and everything, so they're the perfect animals for feeding table scraps to.
I fell in love with possums when I lived in Chicago. I was walking to the bus stop one day and had to pass under a tree where a possum was laying across the branch. It was a beautiful morning. We assessed each other, he closed his eyes & I passed under him. We knew instinctively that we weren't threats to each other. They're such wonderful animals. They seem to handle domestication very well. This young woman is living my dream - to have an animal sanctuary. I would want kids to visit to teach them when they're young to respect, appreciate & not fear wild animals.
Thank you so very much for helping these wonderful creatures, and for educating people. For some reason, a lot of people have an adverse reaction to possums, and they’re such amazing animals, and as you’ve shown they’re capable of great affection.thank you.
He's so adorable. Thank you for what you do. I live in an apartment now so I no longer have possums, raccoons, bears and skunks around to care for. I sure miss them.
I love possums. When they first started moving north to my home in Canada, I wasn't quite sure about them. They do look so nasty when being approached with all those teeth. As soon as we started getting them in at the rescue and I was around them more, I saw what adorable and sweet creatures they can be. They are such a valuable part of our ecosystem. Thank you for all you do for animals in need. 🤗🇨🇦
Darlin none of us are gonna live forever. Yes it'll hurt when he passes away but don't focus on that. Focus on the love given and received. Be comforted that he had a wonderful life that was sustained on love and being spoiled. I think your doing great. Those animals are as blessed to have you as you are them.
She obviously has that same wonderful attitude of having them and enjoying life with them as much as possible. I couldn’t do it with a pet who has a short life span. When my 18 year old cat passed away, it took me 6 years to bear getting another one!! But I was happy to work in a cat shelter and give lots of love that way. I did finally get a 3 year old abused kitty, who is now 19 and such a cuddlebug! I have loved every moment we’ve had, but know my heart will break when it’s his time.
Years ago we found a tiny baby opossum in my friend’s barn. We think mama had been getting into the horses’ oats and this baby just fell off her back. I took “Simon” home and fed him kitten milk until he was big enough to eat solid foods. He loved blueberries, so when he seemed strong and was weaned, we returned him to the farm near some wild blueberry bushes. Very cool animals!
That's so sweet . I'm happy then finding a home with plenty of love , and I'm happy for her having these cute little friends. I had no idea their lifespan is so short . These will probably live alot longer because to me captivity means in a cage , and these little guys are free and don't have the stress of caged animals because they are loved and feed well I believe they will be the exception.
