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Our friend, the opossum

By adamg on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 11:44am

Cambridge Day recounts the marvels of the opposum, North America's only marsupial, which may not really be the tick-fighting machines we've been told, but which do tend to suppress rat populations (also, they have unusual genitalia).

Free tagging: 
Wildlife
opossums


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Comments

By schneidz on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 1:20pm.

also with the unusual genetalia (+1 knuckles).

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By anon on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 5:05pm.

Again, like many a Boston resident.

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By mg on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 2:59pm.

What a great article, with lots of cool pictures. Opossums are fascinating creatures - I enjoyed learning more about them.

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By Opal the Opossum on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 5:54pm.

The double P I do oppose
In Adam’s clear and supple pprose.
The Possum Rule I will imppose
To block a typo, I suppose.

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By adamg on Mon, 03/28/2022 - 9:23am.

I wouldn't have made that dumb typo!

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By perruptor on Sun, 03/27/2022 - 3:43am.

I grew up in eastern MA, spent a lot of time outside, and never saw a possum until I was around 40. It was in Concord in daytime. I've seen a lot of other changes in the wildlife, including the disappearance of pheasants and the re-establishment of geese and coyotes, but that possum surprised me the most.

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By Lanny Budd on Sun, 03/27/2022 - 10:09am.

Shortly after we moved to the suburbs, I saw a patch of white on the front lawn. Went to inspect it - dead possum. Stiff, unmoving. We had dogs in those days, so I thought I should bury the poor thing. Went to the shed out back and got a shovel. By the time I returned to the front, the possum was gone.

I slapped myself in the forehead. Duh!

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By Janet Thalia on Sun, 03/27/2022 - 5:23pm.

You had me at unusual genitalia.

My favorite North American marsupial whose propensity for seizures ended up becoming an evolutionary advantage.

By the way, they are tick-eating animals, not machines, dum-dum.
Don't insult them OR their Maker, if you believe in that hokum.

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By Don't Panic on Mon, 03/28/2022 - 1:52am.

They are the ugliest Boston critters around. Even rats look good compared to them. We have them in the Mission Hill/Longwood Medical area and I've even seen one in the Grove Hall section of Roxbury near the bottom of the hill on Blue Hill Avenue.

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By brianjdamico on Mon, 03/28/2022 - 9:41am.

They are adorable. I refuse to hear any dissenting opinion on this matter.

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