Opossum is a marsupial endemic to the Americas. It loves to visit human homes and raid garbage for food. Its favourites are nuts and fruits, but it also love to hunt mice, birds and insects.
To escape its predators, it plays possum. That is, it pretends to be dead in appearance and in smell. It carries its babies in its pouch or on its back when it goes looking for food.
An opossum, when confronted with a threat, will often hiss or bare its teeth. Or more likely, run. But if it is surprised by a predator, it will enter a catatonic state. It basically faints and is in a state of unconsciousness. The opossum has no control over this; it’s involuntary.
It does indeed appear if the opossum is dead. Its teeth are visible, as if in a death grimace. It emits a foul substance from its anus, the smell described as corpse-like.
A predator is confronted with what appears to be dead, unhealthy prey, and may leave the opossum alone.
This death-feigning strategy, as some sources note, is not without its risks. The opossum is unconscious. So if the predator decides to gnaw on the opossum anyway, there’s no escape. It is also commonly cited as a reason why you see so many road-killed opossums, but I found a lack of research support for this.
The opossum will remain in this unconscious state for minutes to hours.
Picture Credit : Google
