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Text: Vientiane hardcore
Edited by Vientiane hardcore
«——【Preamble】】 ——»
In 2021, the global network reported a news that a possum in Brazil actually "walked a tightrope" on a high-voltage power line!
What is even more surprising is that this possum also carries 7 cubs on its back.
Carrying 7 children on the back of the high-altitude power line, this wave of operation can be said to be very hardcore, although this possum probably does not know how dangerous the place he has walked in, but this at least shows that it is a very responsible mother.
So what kind of animal is a possum, and why do they like to take their children out for a "walk"?
Opossums are a type of mammal, and when they reach adulthood, the small subspecies grows to the size of a mouse, but the large subspecies can grow to the size of a cat, and their muzzle and nose are relatively pointed, a bit like a mouse.
Although they look a little similar in physiognomy to mice, opossums are not actually closely related to rats, which belong to the "Kangaroo order". Rats, on the other hand, belong to the "rodent" order.
Therefore, there is a high probability that these two people do not know each other at all, and they not only go their separate ways on the evolutionary path, but even their habits are very different.
Possums like to live alone, so it's a good thing to find a natural burrow, and if they can't, it's a good idea to live under a human house.
They live mainly in Central and South America, such as southeastern Canada and eastern United States, with only one species of "North American possum" living in higher latitudes in North America.
Opossums belong to the marsupial family, and premature babies will grow up on milk in their mother's pouch and will not leave their mother's pouch until they have grown to a certain extent.
Despite their small size and seemingly inconspicuous appearance, they are "ancient creatures" with a long history, appearing as early as 90 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.
Later, due to the tectonic plate movement, North and South America were connected, and carnivores invaded South America, the "treasure land of feng shui", and most of the marsupials in South America became extinct.
But the opossum population was able to survive natural selection, apparently with two brushes.
The most striking feature of possums is that they carry their children on their backs.
Of course, it takes a certain amount of time for these pups to crawl out of the pouch, and opossums have a very long lactation period because their placenta is particularly primitive, and the embryos have to rely on the nutrients provided by the yolk sac to grow up.
Generally, the gestation period of opossums is about 12 to 13 days, once the nutrients in the yolk sac are consumed, the opossum must give birth to the child, and the opossum will give birth to about 10 cubs.
But the opossum pups have to face a severe test: crawling into their mother's pouch.
Newborn opossums are less than 2 centimeters long and very weak, but this process is generally successful, except for accidents: the new mother will inevitably be confused at this time.
If the baby opossum can successfully climb into the mother's nursery bag, it will be able to eat milk, and then the mother opossum will enter a relatively long "lactation period", --- 1 to 2 months before the baby opossum will "see the light of day".
In order to ensure the safety of the child, the mother of the possum will carry her child on her back to travel, which will take about a month.
It is at this stage that people witness opossums "dragging their families with their mouths" to travel.
A group of little possums are lying on their mother's back, looking around, and the picture looks very harmonious.
I have to say that the female opossum is a very responsible mother, no matter where she goes, she will take her child to travel together, which really avoids the little possum being attacked by natural enemies when the "mother is not there".
Opossums love to eat all kinds of insects and snails, and in addition to these "meats", opossums also have a soft spot for fruit trees and vegetables, and of course, if they are lucky, they can catch small snakes for appetizers.
Although the diet is extensive, it is not easy for the opossum mother to maintain nutrition during the lactation period, and in order to keep the baby possum full, the opossum mother often has to carry a litter of children out to forage for food.
Since sometimes there are as many as a dozen children, the opossum mother often walks forward while the child on her back falls, so the opossum mother has to pick up the child while moving forward.
The IQ of opossums can be described as very "impressive", and their brain capacity is particularly low, so they cannot develop too smart strategies, so there are many natural enemies.
Due to their small size and low speed, it is difficult for opossums to escape when they encounter predators, and over time, opossums have developed effective survival strategies - braking and playing dead.
Speaking of sudden braking skills, opossums will not lose to any animal, they often suddenly stand still when they are chased by natural predators, and look at the predators who chase them with a confused face.
Just when the predator's little head can't react, the opossum will suddenly jump up and run wildly, and the predator will often have to go hungry.
In addition to using the "hard brake" method to confuse the enemy, the possum also has another special ability, that is, to play dead.
The behavior of the opossum is very similar to the state of the person when he has epilepsy, and this "playing dead" situation is not completely controlled by the brain.
When a possum feels that it is in danger, its body secretes a special paralyzing substance for a short time, which causes it to lose consciousness quickly after entering the brain.
This may seem like a bit of a "fake", but it's "very real" to predators.
But in fact, the brain cells of the opossum are still very active at the moment, and before playing dead, it will open its mouth and spit out its tongue, and bulge its belly into a ball.
In addition to this, it also expels fluid from the stinky glands, which has a putrid smell and can easily confuse predators.
In nature, getting sick is a very scary thing, and if you eat an animal that gets sick, it is easy to cause discomfort, so many animals will avoid prey that looks sick.
This gives the possum a chance to take advantage of the loophole, and when the predator leaves, the possum will "wake up" within a few minutes or even hours and quickly slip away.
It is said that when it plays dead, its heartbeat and breathing will stop, its body temperature will drop, and of course, it will also have a "dying" shaking, which has deceived a large group of animals with insufficient brains.
It seems that the two brushes of the possum are still very useful in nature, and the skills left by the ancestors will not be wrong.
Although opossums are not rats, they have a lifespan similar to that of mice, and can only live for two or three years in the wild under normal circumstances, and female opossums can catch 3 litters of cubs per year.
Under the conditions of captivity, it is rare for opossums to live for about 4 years, and it seems that a life without food and clothing is easy to make them live longer.
Opossums are more common pets when they are abroad, and some subspecies are relatively small, and because of their low IQ, they look more stupid and cute, and they are deeply loved by some reptile pet researchers.
In addition, opossums are also very gentle, rarely attacking, and even if they feel threatened, they will only lie down and pretend to be dead, so they are relatively safe.
Of course, raising such gadgets as pets should also be purchased from regular channels, because wild possums will carry a lot of germs, although most of them will not infect people, but some studies have found that possums can be infected with rabies virus.
There is no opossum living in the mainland, so it is definitely not possible to raise it, and it is not easy for opossums to be effectively taken care of as exotic pets, so there is a high probability that ordinary people will not consider it as a pet.
Reference:
Global Network "A Brazilian Opossum Mother Walks in the Air with 7 Cubs on Her Back"2021-8-10
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1707668807349090629&wfr=spider&for=pc
China Laboratory Animal Information Network, "Rare Cases of Rabies Infection in Possums", 2024-2-20
https://www.gdlami.com/Item/104732.aspx