Opossum has a minion!

Minion the Dishes Rat

There are more than 60 different species of opossum. The most notable is the Virginia opossum —the only marsupial (pouched mammal) found in the United States and Canada.

A female opossum gives birth to helpless young as tiny as honeybees. Babies immediately crawl into the mother's pouch, where they continue to develop. As they get larger, they will come out of the pouch and sometimes ride on the mother's back as she hunts for food. Opossums may give birth to as many as 20 babies in a litter, but fewer than half of them survive.

1. Natural immunity. Opossums are mostly immune to rabies, and in fact, they are eight times less likely to carry rabies compared to wild dogs.

2. Poison control. Opossums have superpowers against snakes. They have partial or total immunity to the venom produced by rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and other pit vipers.

3. Omnivores galore. Their normal diet consists of carrion, rodents, insects, grass, nuts, and fruit. They also eat human food, table scraps, dog food and cat food. They're the sanitation workers of the wild.

4. Smart critters. Although many people think opossums are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, there are several areas of intelligence in which they soar. For one, they have a remarkable ability to find food and to remember where it is. When tested for the ability to remember where food is, opossums scored better than rats, rabbits, cats, dogs. They also can find their way through a maze more quickly than rats and cats.

5. Pest control. Since their diet allows them to indulge on snails, slugs and beetles, they are a welcome addition to the garden. Opossums also keep rats and cockroaches at bay by competing with them for food.

6. All thumbs. The opossum has opposable "thumbs." Their thumbs are on its rear feet, and add to the opossum’s formidable climbing skills. Primates and opossums are the only mammals with opposable first toes.

7. Impressive tails. They have prehensile tails which are adapted for grasping and wrapping around things like tree limbs. The opossum can hang from its tail for short periods of time, but the creature doesn’t sleep hanging from its tail, as some people think. Opossums have been observed carrying bundles of grasses and other materials by looping their tail around them; this conscious control leads many to consider the tail as a fifth appendage, like a hand.

8. Good pupils. The eyes of the opossum appear black, but what we are seeing are strongly dilated pupil; there is iris around them, it’s just mostly out of sight. The giant pupils are thought to be an adaptation to their nocturnal habits.

9. Smile! The mouth of an opossum holds an impressive 50 teeth.

10. Natural defenses. When threatened, opossums run, growl, belch, and try to appear threatening by showing their teeth. And when all else fails, they “play ‘possum" and act as if they are dead. It is an involuntary response (like fainting) rather than a conscious act. They roll over, become stiff, close their eyes (or stare off into space) and bare their teeth as saliva foams around the mouth and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from glands. The catatonic state can last for up to four hours, and has proven effective as a deterrent to predators looking for a hot meal.

Male opossums are called jacks and females are called jills. The young are referred to as joeys, just like their Australian cousins, and a group of opossums is called a passel.

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