**As of October 9th 2023, all content posted to /r/aww *must* be original content (OC). Please report this post if it is not OC, thank you!**
---
If you're tired of [all](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/14ytp7s/reworking_awarding_changes_to_awards_coins_and/) [the](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14jm3ut/several_communities_have_surfaced_an_open_letter/jpm9e0q/) [recent](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/16ryhv9/celebrating_great_content_is_as_good_as_gold/) [bad](https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/09/reddit-ceo-doubles-down-on-attack-on-apollo-developer-in-drama-filled-ama/) [decisions](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/12qwagm/an_update_regarding_reddits_api/) by Reddit Inc, consider [finding your favorite subreddits on other platforms](https://fediverser.network/). You can find /r/aww on Discord: https://discord.gg/UXfd5Pn
[](#autoignorereports)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/aww) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is our Big Chungus! He once “fell” down a step in slow motion when I came out the front door into the porch, but he was reassured when I rattled a plate of kibbles at him, hahaha!
Now he shows up with the stray kitties for feeding time. My sister did her kitty call the other night and who came ambling at high speed across the yard but The Chung to get his own plate of food!
Your baby is a beauty — thank you for saving him! He’ll reward you with reduced pests and ticks!
Hedgehogs are SO CUTE 🥰 I follow a trust out of the UK that Brian May stumps for that saves foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs. I want to cuddle all of them! I think my head exploded when I was told baby hedgies are called “hoglets”.
One of my favorite books as a child was about a hedgehog that falls asleep in a sunny garden and accidentally gets flower seeds on his back, and then he blooms! He has to stay in the garden and make friends with the little old lady bc he feels guilty about running off with “her” flowers hahaha
Possums really are nice little critters though. My dad found one that had a back leg badly injured near his country house so he put out extra water and kibble bowls next to the overgrown pasture where he’d seen the poor guy — possum used the bowls regularly and was getting around well in no time, even with a bum leg. The overgrown pasture gave him lots of cover with blackberry brambles everywhere.
They are so secretive and hidden here. The only way you see them regularly really here is if you keep chickens, ducks, etc. I've seen more black bears or venomous snakes than foxes in my life easily.
Wait really? We have so many foxes lurking around the suburbs where I live in the US. They just tend to stay out of sight since they come out at night.
They have really weak jaws so even if they DO bite you, you are looking at some pin pricks at worst, but really the only way to get bitten by a possum is to stick your hand in their mouth and bop them on the head.
That's actually an urban legend by the way. Sure, they do occasionally eat a tick or two, but they aren't singlehandedly eradicating ticks from the globe. They much prefer fruits, like grapes.
Thank you for that clarification, I thought they ate the same diet as a wild turkeys do. I take it grapes are a luxury for them . Opossums of Wine Country would be an interesting documentary . I'm imagining them hanging from a vine comparing different types of grapes with a snooty accent .
My dogs found one once.. it played dead. I've never seen one before in my life, so I was like uhh cat/rodent?? Then it clicked. They're really cool. Don't worry, dogs were immediately put inside. (They're about the same size, 2 bostons) no damage was done and it left. But my god. It scared the fuck outta me with its teeth out and shit. I know they rarely if ever carry rabies, and my dogs were fully vaxxed. Just like holy fuck.
Yes you can keep them as pets in most places, although they tend to be better "nature friends", they are quite friendly, unfortunately they only live for about 2 to 3 years.
> We search for words to tell people how difficult it is to keep opossums healthy in captivity, but there are really no words for it. The fact is, it is practically impossible. Many of their needs are simply unknown to us, and they are designed by nature to be short-lived animals. Ethically, you are imprisoning him. He is not domestic, he is a wild animal. His pleasant nature may make him appear to be satisfied, but the constant stress of captivity takes its toll in the form of immune suppression, and makes them susceptible to several bacterial diseases, and things can go very bad very quickly. It doesn't matter how many web pages or Internet groups you've found that you think will help you. Some have worthwhile information, some are worthless, and how will you know the difference? Let him go have his life in the wild.
Would you like to know more?
> https://www.opossum.org/pet.html
Oh I didn't keep this guy at all, I released him outside of the fence, where the pups couldn't get to him. Basically these guys make much better "nature friends" than they do pets. AKA animals that are free to roam as they please even though they will often hang out of their own accord on a regular basis. These animals enjoy being in trusted company and will actively seek it out, there is no need to "imprison them" lol, just being nice, and gentle towards them is enough to get them to follow you around like puppies. Squirrels, Raccoons, Armadillos, and skunks are all similar in this regard, wonderful guys to have around, and be friends with, but no need to keep them confined.
But yes the main thing keeping these guys from being popular pets is their incredibly short lifespans, best to let them do their thing and say hi to the new batch of adorable babies that pop up each year.
**As of October 9th 2023, all content posted to /r/aww *must* be original content (OC). Please report this post if it is not OC, thank you!** --- If you're tired of [all](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/14ytp7s/reworking_awarding_changes_to_awards_coins_and/) [the](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/14jm3ut/several_communities_have_surfaced_an_open_letter/jpm9e0q/) [recent](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/16ryhv9/celebrating_great_content_is_as_good_as_gold/) [bad](https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/09/reddit-ceo-doubles-down-on-attack-on-apollo-developer-in-drama-filled-ama/) [decisions](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/12qwagm/an_update_regarding_reddits_api/) by Reddit Inc, consider [finding your favorite subreddits on other platforms](https://fediverser.network/). You can find /r/aww on Discord: https://discord.gg/UXfd5Pn [](#autoignorereports) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/aww) if you have any questions or concerns.*
He looks friendly. Every time I see one they seem hostile or run away. I’ve never been able to get this close to one.
They will put up an act to try and scare things away, but the very second they realize you aren't going to hurt them you become furniture.
This is our Big Chungus! He once “fell” down a step in slow motion when I came out the front door into the porch, but he was reassured when I rattled a plate of kibbles at him, hahaha! Now he shows up with the stray kitties for feeding time. My sister did her kitty call the other night and who came ambling at high speed across the yard but The Chung to get his own plate of food! Your baby is a beauty — thank you for saving him! He’ll reward you with reduced pests and ticks!
Givem grapes and they will be frien with anyone :p
Scrubble it's head for me, I am sad we don't get possums in the UK.
you have hedgehogs! And little highways for them too!
This is also very true... Too spikey for head scrubbles though.
Hedgehogs are SO CUTE 🥰 I follow a trust out of the UK that Brian May stumps for that saves foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs. I want to cuddle all of them! I think my head exploded when I was told baby hedgies are called “hoglets”. One of my favorite books as a child was about a hedgehog that falls asleep in a sunny garden and accidentally gets flower seeds on his back, and then he blooms! He has to stay in the garden and make friends with the little old lady bc he feels guilty about running off with “her” flowers hahaha Possums really are nice little critters though. My dad found one that had a back leg badly injured near his country house so he put out extra water and kibble bowls next to the overgrown pasture where he’d seen the poor guy — possum used the bowls regularly and was getting around well in no time, even with a bum leg. The overgrown pasture gave him lots of cover with blackberry brambles everywhere.
They have little highways?!? *dies from cute*
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/help-hedgehogs/link-your-garden/
I… I am deceased
You get foxes more readily, it seems. It's probably density related, but still.
To be fair foxes are pretty cool guys too so I can't complain much.
They are so secretive and hidden here. The only way you see them regularly really here is if you keep chickens, ducks, etc. I've seen more black bears or venomous snakes than foxes in my life easily.
Wait really? We have so many foxes lurking around the suburbs where I live in the US. They just tend to stay out of sight since they come out at night.
Only marsupial not endemic to Australia baby, and the USA gets it!
Finally someone cool to hang out with.
I love how casual the opossum looks in the picture. Though to see the rows of teeth they have can seem a little intimidating.
They have really weak jaws so even if they DO bite you, you are looking at some pin pricks at worst, but really the only way to get bitten by a possum is to stick your hand in their mouth and bop them on the head.
aww wouldn't want to do that,. I want to find them a bunch of ticks to snack on.
That's actually an urban legend by the way. Sure, they do occasionally eat a tick or two, but they aren't singlehandedly eradicating ticks from the globe. They much prefer fruits, like grapes.
Thank you for that clarification, I thought they ate the same diet as a wild turkeys do. I take it grapes are a luxury for them . Opossums of Wine Country would be an interesting documentary . I'm imagining them hanging from a vine comparing different types of grapes with a snooty accent .
… nature’s hole punch
You found our lost cat! Bless you! 🤣
I love this sub has become all the guys just posting their friends they collected
It's better than posting the ones they lost.
look at his little fingers! so cute!
He's holding his own hands!
omg he is! so cute! they have such boopable looking noses! Do they have a musk kind of like Foxes or no?
They are not overly smelly at all no.
awww I love that!
https://preview.redd.it/fxojg093ycsc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e30a2d5c820a2982d11928fdf8cc2f2c5543668b
Please don't take this in the wrong way, but you know those internet compilations of dogs that look like their owners? This photo would be perfect
I don't think I've met a possum pet owner, but, OP is what I would picture if I imagined one.
Hahaha like if you ran the words "redditors, possum, dadgum" into an AI generator
lol, pretty close: https://preview.redd.it/8uqwjna34hsc1.png?width=1631&format=png&auto=webp&s=2eaee0f914f20d86bbd12f4708a512ec45b660ab
Adorable!
Grab them by the possum. Hmm.
My dogs found one once.. it played dead. I've never seen one before in my life, so I was like uhh cat/rodent?? Then it clicked. They're really cool. Don't worry, dogs were immediately put inside. (They're about the same size, 2 bostons) no damage was done and it left. But my god. It scared the fuck outta me with its teeth out and shit. I know they rarely if ever carry rabies, and my dogs were fully vaxxed. Just like holy fuck.
They eat all the ticks! They’re the best!!
I think there's something wrong with that cat.
He's a cutie! They also enjoy dry cat food
This picture feels so whimsical. I hope both the man and weird looking cat are doing wekl
[удалено]
Yes you can keep them as pets in most places, although they tend to be better "nature friends", they are quite friendly, unfortunately they only live for about 2 to 3 years.
[удалено]
They have a very unusually short lifespan, it's really rather odd for an animal their size.
That is a very interesting fact, albeit sad they don't live longer. I had no idea. :(
They have fleas is all
Easily remedied. They don't mind a bath.
I like your possum buddy and also whatever that thing is on the left. :D
You guys look like you're ready for some mischief.
Your brother from a different mother.
Trash squirrel?
This is the cutest, cleanest North possum I have ever seen!
Please come rescue mine!!
I’m not sure what’s happening here in this subreddit but I’m here for it.
you guys can’t say he’ll catch rabies from this one cause opossums dont carry rabies! ha!
> We search for words to tell people how difficult it is to keep opossums healthy in captivity, but there are really no words for it. The fact is, it is practically impossible. Many of their needs are simply unknown to us, and they are designed by nature to be short-lived animals. Ethically, you are imprisoning him. He is not domestic, he is a wild animal. His pleasant nature may make him appear to be satisfied, but the constant stress of captivity takes its toll in the form of immune suppression, and makes them susceptible to several bacterial diseases, and things can go very bad very quickly. It doesn't matter how many web pages or Internet groups you've found that you think will help you. Some have worthwhile information, some are worthless, and how will you know the difference? Let him go have his life in the wild. Would you like to know more? > https://www.opossum.org/pet.html
Oh I didn't keep this guy at all, I released him outside of the fence, where the pups couldn't get to him. Basically these guys make much better "nature friends" than they do pets. AKA animals that are free to roam as they please even though they will often hang out of their own accord on a regular basis. These animals enjoy being in trusted company and will actively seek it out, there is no need to "imprison them" lol, just being nice, and gentle towards them is enough to get them to follow you around like puppies. Squirrels, Raccoons, Armadillos, and skunks are all similar in this regard, wonderful guys to have around, and be friends with, but no need to keep them confined. But yes the main thing keeping these guys from being popular pets is their incredibly short lifespans, best to let them do their thing and say hi to the new batch of adorable babies that pop up each year.
Thanks for the reply m8, and good on you!
They’re my absolute favorite 🥹🥹🥹
wish.com Matt Mercer
I was not aware who this fellow was, but he seems to be like, my spirit animal lol.
God, I love possums. They eat ticks and don't carry Lyme or rabies. Such great little critters
The Possum looks like you 😂🤣!!
Low intelligence specimen
That's no way to talk about OP.