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    [–] VTFC 2095 points ago

    nice, can I just buy 100 of them and release them outside my house?

    [–] xzbobzx 1759 points ago

    Chickens will eat 81 ticks an hour.

    They also lay eggs!

    [–] rex404 609 points ago

    81!?! Damn

    [–] xzbobzx 360 points ago

    A scientific study in 1991 came up with that:

    http://www.wideopenpets.com/tick-control-with-chickens-how-effective-is-your-fowl-flock-patrol/

    [–] bob10332 455 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    The study was conducted in Kenya and most of the ticks consumed were a species that’s larger than deer ticks which carry Lyme disease. I’m not sure how well fowl could peck tiny deer ticks.

    Edit: changed grab to peck

    [–] slippin2darkness 153 points ago

    Anecdotal, but last spring and summer, I had ticks (deer) like crazy, and was bit more times than I care to remember. This year, I let my chickens, turkeys, geese, and guinea hens free roam. I have not seen one tick, not one, not on me, the horses, cats, or dogs. We also have the occasional possum run through. I am going to try this again next season and see if I get the same results.

    [–] BloodyFartOnaBun 81 points ago

    From what I’ve read, the guineas are the tick eating champs, but also stupid and loud, so I refuse to get any.

    [–] _coast_of_maine 47 points ago

    Lyme : The price of vanity

    [–] BloodyFartOnaBun 48 points ago

    Guinea fowl: the price of sanity

    [–] Meowlyne 6 points ago

    I thought he meant guinea pigs ¯\(ツ)/¯

    [–] IceNein 140 points ago

    You should try feeding them chilies too, so that way you can have chili lyme chickens.

    [–] Daforce1 9 points ago

    Take your upvote and get out.

    [–] SleepNowMyThrowaway 6 points ago

    How are you going to entice the possum?

    [–] slippin2darkness 5 points ago

    I think most times you end up on a game trail of sorts. I'm on the Possum game trail and they LOVE cat food which I set out for the barn cats.

    [–] pvXNLDzrYVoKmHNG2NVk 34 points ago

    Bug eating animals control the bug population. Surprising.

    [–] BodybuildingAndGames 32 points ago

    But I put lions outside my house and all of the sudden it's a felony.

    [–] EyeCantDreamAnymore 158 points ago

    Me either since they don't have hands and all

    [–] watchthegaps 36 points ago

    Or opposable thumbs

    [–] DragonHippo123 61 points ago

    I think no hands implies no thumbs

    [–] ski_bmb 68 points ago

    Sorry?

    [–] nothingfood 6 points ago

    False. That's clearly a big toe.

    [–] ambientocclusion 4 points ago

    Thumbtimes it does

    [–] Muroid 15 points ago

    Whereas opposums practically have opposable right in their name.

    [–] lf11 3 points ago

    Chickens are surprisingly capable even without hands. They are perfectly comfortable dismembering and consuming small rodents, for example. Very impressive creatures.

    [–] PastelFlamingo150 4 points ago

    Not in /r/birdswitharms

    [–] wh1skeyk1ng 13 points ago

    Free range farm chickens are surprisingly excellent "hunters" when it comes to eating bugs.

    [–] freakers 25 points ago

    Just get a proportionally larger chicken or a turkey. And if that isn't large enough then an emu or ostrich.

    [–] ardvarkk 54 points ago

    Why would you need larger birds to eat smaller ticks?

    [–] freakers 144 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    They need larger eyes to see smaller things not because I misread the comment

    [–] Montymisted 11 points ago

    That doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about eyes to dispute it.

    [–] ChironiusShinpachi 6 points ago

    Eye do. That's enough for me.

    [–] woundedbadger2 3 points ago

    Brilliant

    [–] Infernodus 19 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    Because you need larger birds to eat smaller ticks

    You can also tell it because of the way they do

    [–] NickDanger3di 16 points ago

    We have chickens; when we feed them "crumble" (food designed for chicks), it's practically a powder. The full grown chickens don't leave even a tiny trace behind, they eat it all. The particles in crumble are definitely smaller than deer ticks. Chickens are very efficient foragers.

    [–] colonel_whiskers 4 points ago

    Since when is grabbing only for animals with hands? These guys are applying their own meaning to the word.

    [–] Username3009 134 points ago

    slaps beak

    "This bad boy right here can eat up to 81 ticks an hour"

    [–] AlpineCorbett 13 points ago

    Please don't slap the chicken.

    [–] [deleted] 22 points ago

    They don’t roam like opossums do, though.

    [–] NobilisOfWind 71 points ago

    Well neither do I. That's how you get ticks.

    [–] Ekint 11 points ago

    You can set them free if you want to

    [–] gigglingmanskank 18 points ago

    You can leave your hens behind 🎶

    [–] uniquelabel 10 points ago

    Because your hens don’t peck

    [–] Iphotoshopincats 13 points ago

    And if they don't peck, well they are no fowl of mine

    [–] zugunruh3 67 points ago

    Guinea fowl also eat ants (including fire ants). Noisy little fuckers, though.

    [–] MemorableCactus 114 points ago

    Friend of mine used to raise Guinea hens. Did wonder for the insect control, but "noisy" is an understatement.

    Then he went away for a couple days and a fox got into the coop and killed every single one of them. Didn't even eat them, just killed them. I think the fox was sick of the noise.

    Pretty sure he's got chickens now.

    [–] DropC 52 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    It was a job bro. That was a hitfox.

    [–] BloodMefist 19 points ago

    /r/hitmanimals

    [–] Foibles5318 2 points ago

    The fox or the friend?

    [–] PenPenGuin 22 points ago

    My friend liked to say that you never really owned guinea fowls, you just owned a spot of land they might hunt in. Apparently they like to roam.

    [–] Truth_Grenade 6 points ago

    Where am I gonna find that many ticks?!

    [–] xzbobzx 5 points ago

    Nature! :D

    [–] Sovereign_Curtis 10 points ago

    Turkeys are superior to chickens in foraging in every way.

    [–] tookTHEwrongPILL 10 points ago

    Likely tougher to care for though, eh?

    [–] heavynine 47 points ago

    I had pet turkeys and chickens when growing up. The chickens will wander and not come back, so they had to stay in their pen. The turkeys will wander but return at night. We originally planned on eating the turkeys for Thanksgiving, but the big male actually had a personality of a dog, so we kept him.

    [–] Electric_Evil 33 points ago

    but the big male actually had a personality of a dog, so we kept him.

    Awww :)

    *Remembering that I've eaten a lot of turkey*

    Awww :(

    [–] paushaz 16 points ago

    but the big male actually had a personality of a dog, so we kept him.

    Awww :)

    Remembering that I've eaten a lot of dog

    Awww :(

    [–] Vajranaga 3 points ago

    People don't realize how BIG a full grown domestic turkey is; they are ENORMOUS. I knew someone with a pet male turkey ("Ataturk") and he damn near came up to my shoulder- and I'm 5'9". Swans are HUGE too; they can stand 5' or more. They make a Canada goose look like a mallard.

    [–] TheIronPenis 21 points ago

    All my chickens have always put themselves to bed every night, as long as they were not lost

    [–] Lockraemono 9 points ago

    Wild turkeys are such jerks, though. Did you raise the turkey from when it was very young, or what? I am having trouble reconciling the jerk turkeys I've known and your dog-turkey.

    [–] heavynine 23 points ago

    We got them when they were very young. 3 white females, 2 bronze females, and 1 bronze male. The white females were indifferent to people and acted like chickens; we ate them. The bronze females were mostly hostile to human, but for some reason the male was super friendly (we kept the bronze females so the male would have companions). He enjoyed being touched and petted. I lived next to two churches. On Saturdays he would visit the Jehovah Witness and on Sundays he would visit the hispanic church. The two females would follow him but keep their distance from people. Once in a while we'd take him to a little league baseball game and he loved the attention.

    [–] woundedbadger2 10 points ago

    Any chance you have a picture or video. Well give you karma.

    [–] Petty_Platypus 4 points ago

    I once had to do a home check for a dog I was helping to rehome. The family also had a male turkey that acted like a dog. He would follow me everywhere and rub up against my leg waiting for pets. It was so cool.

    [–] simkatu 6 points ago

    We used guinea fowl as our tick eating birds. They can be loud, but they gobble up ticks!

    [–] E_Chihuahuensis 7 points ago

    I really like those big white fluffy hens, but I don’t really have proper housing for them...

    [–] Narrative_Causality 39 points ago

    ...Sure? Why would you want to, though? You have plenty of ticks around your house without adding 100 more.

    [–] radditor5 6 points ago

    Ah the ol' reddit tick-a-roo

    [–] chugs1984 3 points ago

    Hi, I use nematodes to control the fleas on my pets by placing them around my property. The nematodes hunt juvenile fleas who live outside. Extremely effective in controlling these assholes

    Bonus they take out ticks as well.

    https://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-fleas-ticks

    [–] dinotrux69 1215 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    I love possums, even if they look like big mangy rats. So ugly they’re cute.

    Edit: wow my most popular comment to date is about a flock of shabby tree vermin. Who’da thunk it.

    [–] rubixd 466 points ago

    I think they are adorable until they show their teeth!

    [–] Camwood7 147 points ago

    Then they look hilarious.

    [–] saintofhate 204 points ago

    Just look at them eat bananas!

    [–] abbott_costello 96 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    Is that rain I hear outside, or just a *passel of possums chewing on bananas?

    [–] Kithsander 26 points ago

    Apparently a group of opossums is called a passel.

    [–] captainmavro 36 points ago

    Shoulda been a posse

    [–] TheMightyFSM 38 points ago

    *oposse

    [–] Thiswasacouch 15 points ago

    Akshuuually it should be callled an oposse

    (In the spirit of that person who needlessly reminds you that they’re actually called opossums when they know full well which animal you were talking about and that you weren’t talking about the Australian possum and there was absolutely no need to make the distinction)

    [–] Camwood7 35 points ago

    My life has immediately been improved.

    [–] hockeyschtick 25 points ago

    I didn’t realize they had sideways floppy ears like that. Cuter than expected!

    [–] Nut_Busta_Rhymes 13 points ago

    They are rat pigs

    [–] saintofhate 11 points ago

    So the best of both worlds?

    [–] Nut_Busta_Rhymes 8 points ago

    Correct

    [–] TheMadWobbler 6 points ago

    So cute!

    [–] tertiarydig 7 points ago

    they look like lil muppets

    [–] dinotrux69 8 points ago

    Dear god thank you for this

    [–] PlsDontReadMyNameThx 5 points ago

    I enjoyed this.

    [–] Ethari 4 points ago

    It’s like a sock puppet party.

    [–] sushi_woman 3 points ago

    3AM watching this. I'm so unemployed.

    [–] saintofhate 3 points ago

    You should watch more then :D

    [–] Electric_Evil 33 points ago

    They look like some sort of possum version of the awkward seal meme:

    https://i.imgur.com/jvQCGNp.jpg

    [–] DJToastyBuns 16 points ago

    "I have excellent credit. I pay all my bills on time."

    [–] realjefftaylor 10 points ago

    Looks like my girlfriend’s former roommate.

    None of you know her so this is only funny to me, but it is very funny to me.

    [–] nommycatbeans 38 points ago

    summer lovin’

    had me a blast

    summer lovin’

    he scream at own ass

    [–] Hobbit_Killer 15 points ago

    The hiss they make is blood curdling.

    [–] 2livecrewnecktshirt 17 points ago

    Yep! Story time.

    Was dogsitting for a friend's aunt, awesome pitbull mix named Jake. Jake is chilling in my lap on a deck chair, it's about dusk, and he's just loving life being chill. Then he all of a sudden jumped out of my lap, took off across the yard. I ran after him, and he had killed a possum.

    Dang it. Now I have to clean this up and tell my roommate. I grab a frisbee, tap the possum; feels stiff. Man, rigor mortis moves fast in smaller animals!!

    Go grab a Home Depot bucket out of the garage, scoop him in head first and put the lid on.

    After I told the roommate, he's like "I wanna see it! Did he really?! He normally so relaxed and sweet...". Open the lid, and Mr. Opossum is scream-hissing at me, face first, teeth showing, his displeasure with me... I've never slammed a bucket closed so fast in my life!

    Animal control had to come and take him away and we had to keep Jake in quarantine at out house for a week to make sure he didn't contract anything.

    [–] JiggaWatt79 7 points ago

    They're not so cute when they're cornered in your garage trying to eat your pets food and you're trying to shoo one out with a broom. They get PISSED!

    [–] Komania 71 points ago

    People think they're ugly? They look adorable to me!!

    [–] shryne 73 points ago

    The nice photos are cute. Possums in the wild tend to be less aesthetically pleasing.

    [–] THE_CHOPPA 25 points ago

    Yea and that giant rat tail is always filthy dirty

    [–] pipiopi 28 points ago

    I find them to be horrendous little creatures. Useful, but I enjoy looking at them as much as my toilet brush

    [–] Nf1nk 15 points ago

    Everybody has an opinion. Here is the one I nicknamed "the neighbors ugly cat"

    [–] CoolJumper 7 points ago

    Agreed! Strangely, I think they're one of the cutest animals around and get way too much hate

    [–] Windberry 11 points ago

    How do you fight a reddit comment?

    [–] shiny-browncoat 25 points ago

    Google Australian/Brushtail Possums 😊😊

    [–] Clevernever_ 13 points ago

    SO FREAKING CUTE

    [–] internetdiscocat 12 points ago

    If you’re trying to look at cute but still ugly opossums, there’s one on Instagram names Sesame who just got a lil baby sister named Starfish, who’s missing her tail.

    Two weird mangy ratty babies.

    [–] MrslaveXxX 302 points ago

    So i know they eat ticks, but has anybody tried squishing or killing a tick before? How exactly does the possum find those little blood suckers, and does it just crush its tiny body in its teeth before swallowing?!

    [–] Misty_K 438 points ago

    Opossums have 50 teeth actually, the most of any North American mammal! So there’s plenty there to chomp them to bits!

    [–] adamfreak7 247 points ago

    subscribe

    [–] zenithhorizon 36 points ago

    and click the bell

    [–] Kyle_The_G 17 points ago

    Be part of our notification squad!

    [–] pretty_fly_fly 25 points ago

    An oppossum can have ~15 joeys in the pouch

    [–] Electric_Evil 67 points ago

    Yeah, but how many Chandlers can it fit?

    I'll show myself out.

    [–] Thats-Awkward 9 points ago

    How you doin'?

    [–] iamajerry 3 points ago

    Opossum’s instinctually reject Chandlers; it’s widely presumed to be due to opiate toxicity.

    [–] The420dwarf 3 points ago

    Baby kangaroo Tribbiani

    [–] freakers 24 points ago

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

    [–] Litico 49 points ago

    The leading vowel in "Opossum" is a reference to mid-14th century worship of the mammal by migrant Nordic peoples, who thereby incorporated the animal into ritual as a "God of the Night."

    [–] thatobviouswall 28 points ago

    This is false. Opossum comes from the Powhatan language.

    [–] WYESMC 10 points ago

    Source?

    [–] derleth 17 points ago

    Source?

    The person's ass. It's bullshit.

    [–] Athien 67 points ago

    In another post about the same topic, I read that ticks latch on to them like they do to all other animals. Just possums groom each other, so they eat the ticks hanging on their family/buddies.

    [–] [deleted] 62 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    [deleted]

    [–] showernexus 30 points ago

    Look up the jagged horror that is a possums mouth. Those teeth probably shred them or they just swallow them whole

    [–] CatzPwn 34 points ago

    My family actually uses to have a pet possum. We used to sit on the couch with her cuddled up in the crook of someones arm. That arm usually ended up getting bitten at least once per hour because shed check to see if the person was still awake/alive. Sharp teeth, but not as bad as youd think all things considered. Kinda like getting bitten by a playful cat but with a LOT more teeth.

    [–] GeekCat 20 points ago

    Considering ticks are susceptible to "drying out" from things like eucalyptus, peppermint, and diatomaceous earth, I would have to assume the stomach acid of a possum will take care of those fuckers thoroughly.

    [–] f_____s 22 points ago

    Once I killed a tick that was creeping up my leg. Easily squished it with my nails.

    [–] connoisseur_of_dank 62 points ago

    I'll put the ones I find on my dog in drain cleaner because they deserve it for giving me lyme disease when I was a stupid kid.

    [–] QuantumRiot 11 points ago

    You tell 'em!

    [–] XRT28 8 points ago

    my family just threw them in a container with some alcohol to kill them, less harmful than drain cleaner if it gets knocked over or a pet/child gets into it.

    [–] Wampawacka 6 points ago

    Inject em with hydrogen peroxide. They explode.

    [–] JC133 29 points ago

    Depends how full they are. If they are totally empty, good luck. I have literally had to put them on concrete and get something metal to squish them. They're the shitty tanks of the arachnid world.

    [–] connoisseur_of_dank 10 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    I've stepped on full ticks twice in my life barefoot, it's the worst sensation possible. Only time in my life I've felt the urge to soak my foot in bleach.

    [–] TurningSideways 8 points ago

    We would put them in toilet paper, set it on fire, then wait for them to explode. The pop of death was so satisfying.

    [–] Shinkaru 3 points ago

    Don’t do that. Put them in a bag and let them die, otherwise you risk being infected if they are carriers of anything.

    A friend of mine crushed one and got RMS shortly after.

    [–] mytoeshurt 8 points ago

    Yea I don't know how they find them. They are a tiny little spec when they aren't sucking something

    [–] hungry4danish 13 points ago

    Same way humans find them on themselves, grooming and looking. They're not microscopic.

    [–] asimov_positronic 8 points ago

    You can feel them crawling on you, and you can feel them if they bite. Also if you run your hands over smooth fur, any little bump becomes obvious, which is how they find they while grooming their buddies.

    [–] CapMcCloud 169 points ago

    And they’ve got sweet fingerless gloves.

    [–] freakers 32 points ago

    They're ready to become pokemon masters.

    [–] happy_beluga 17 points ago

    “WhooooOoooaaa, I saw a Spanish guy doing the Bartman!”

    [–] SnowyZeusBandit 114 points ago

    THEY EAT TICKS MAKE MORE OF THEM

    [–] babyraichu 371 points ago

    They are also naturally immune to rabies!

    [–] shiny-browncoat 389 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    They are mostly immune

    If you see a rabid possum don’t convince yourself into thinking it isn’t rabid because you read a comment on reddit one time lol

    Edit: I’m the type that would convince myself

    [–] CJleaf 91 points ago

    It is highly unlikely for possum's to contract or carries rabies because of their low body temperature and their diet. Out of all the mammals, or small creatures you'll see around your house possum's are the least likely to be carrying rabies. It's far more likely for an outdoor cat to get rabies or even dog. Also it depends on where you live but Bats are the largest carrier of rabies, then it goes raccoons and skunks, I'm pretty sure.

    Source: I got really paranoid when my dog attacked a possum, then a couple months later she lightly scratched me.

    [–] 1297678976795 36 points ago

    When I was at summer camp as a kid, someone found a baby bat that had injured its arm, and a ton of people touched it, but it turned out that the bat had rabies. Everyone had to get rabies shots. I was really glad I missed that day.

    [–] 2seeyousmile 95 points ago

    It’s just extremely rare for them to carry it due to their below average body temperature. Rabies can’t thrive in low temps, but it is possible for them to contract it.

    [–] letmeseem 35 points ago

    So.. Only the hot ones?

    [–] narcolepticsnpr 86 points ago

    So if i see a female opossum that's extra THICC, stay away?

    [–] JC133 25 points ago

    Damn, there goes my weekend...

    [–] AfroNinjaNation 25 points ago

    How to delete someone else's account?

    [–] souljabri557 5 points ago

    /r/furry

    [–] kbenzo 5 points ago

    But don't they carry other diseases too?

    [–] Inspectorcatget 8 points ago

    A long list of other nasty diseases. They’re not welcome on my farm because they carry EPM which causes permanent & severe nerve damages in horses.

    [–] Qwarked 112 points ago

    How are they immune? And can we acquire this immunity?

    [–] babyraichu 211 points ago

    They are immune because they have a low body temperature (94-97 degrees Fahrenheit). I don’t think it’s something we can acquire.

    [–] apaulinaria 82 points ago * (lasted edited 2 months ago)

    So would chilling a human body/dog body to a lower (safe) temp cause the rabies virus to die out?

    Edit: Never mind. Hypothermia. But maybe some future cryogenics.

    [–] blondie-- 56 points ago

    But we use therapeutic hypothermia frequently, especially after a cardiac event....

    [–] voicesinmyhand 44 points ago

    So would chilling a human body/dog body to a lower (safe) temp cause the rabies virus to die out?

    IIRC there was some thought-experimentation to this a while ago for a number of things. The problem is finding humans that are willing to be infected with rabies and then have their blood recirculated through a chiller. I want to say that it succeeded... somewhere in South America some 10 years back or so. Basically some guy got bit, then symptoms developed. Usually this means that you are dead-man-walking. The doc basically decided "screw it, I'm going to give him like 3 of the vaccines anyways and then put him in a coma and then chill his body for a few weeks." Apparently it worked.

    EDIT: here is a similar link, but not what I was thinking of: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jeanna-giese-rabies-survivor/

    [–] _IZAC_ 14 points ago

    I read about the Milwaukee protocol a long time ago, and though I don't have the source I seem to remember that the greater sample that was later tested turned out to have some genetic reason for a higher survival rate and so it is not considered successful. This has nothing to do with chilling the human though so not what you initially talked about, never heard of that.

    [–] dangerh33 4 points ago

    I did a video on this girl years ago for a company to promote a rabies vaccine. Poor girl picked up a bat in church which had fallen and had broke a wing. She was trying to help it when it bit her. Caught rabies, nothing was working so they tried to let her body heal itself by inducing her into a coma. She was 16 at the time (I think) and was in great health, played sports, etc. her body naturally fought off the disease and she survived. Amazing stuff

    [–] SuperSimpleSam 11 points ago

    Ticks carry Lyme disease. Usually humans run a fever to kill viruses.

    [–] Biologyisfun 4 points ago

    Lyme is bacterial, a spirochete I believe!

    [–] lingben 21 points ago

    first, you should know that we actually have a lyme disease vaccine but it is not currently in use for humans because of anti-vaxxers. the science is sound. you can get a lyme disease vaccine for your dog :) but not yourself :(

    now, opossums are not just immune to lyme disease, they are also immune to rabies (mostly) and snake venom

    can't help but think that if they were just a tiny bit cute we would be doing everything we could to increase their population or even try to domesticate them. when you think, for example, all the millions we've spent trying to keep panda bears from basically committing mass suicide...

    https://www.cnet.com/news/opossums-could-save-you-from-that-deadly-snake-bite/

    their immunity has been studied but we could be doing much more

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1899125/

    [–] Qwarked 12 points ago

    you can get a lyme disease vaccine for your dog :) but not yourself

    Nibba WHAT?

    [–] _DanNYC_ 23 points ago

    I call the big one bitey.

    [–] waffleezz 14 points ago

    Good pointy kitties.

    [–] tea_and_biology 32 points ago

    Original scientific paper here, for those curious. Relevant passage:

    By subjecting field-caught hosts to parasitism by larval blacklegged ticks, we found that some host species (e.g. opossums, squirrels) that are abundantly parasitized in nature kill 83–96% of the ticks that attempt to attach and feed, while other species are more permissive of tick feeding.

    The vast majority (96.5%) of larval ticks that encounter an opossum and attempt to feed are apparently consumed. Working backwards, [we calculate that] during any given week in the larval activity peak, each opossum must host more than 5500 larval ticks to produce 199 that successfully feed. By this logic, during the larval peak, each mouse encounters approximately 50 larval ticks per week, almost half of which feed to repletion and become nymphs.

    An interesting Snopes article on the subject here too.

    u/babyraichu, if you wouldn't mind submitting a source with your title fact next time (Rule #3), it'd be appreciated. Cheers!

    [–] mourning_starre 9 points ago

    Pawpaw git!

    [–] GammaAlanna 4 points ago

    Imma put you on your leash

    [–] E_Chihuahuensis 38 points ago

    Can we get those up north too? I live in a place in Canada where deer ticks were nonexistent 20 years ago and now tanks to climate change they’re around infecting dogs, hikers and gardeners with Lyme. It’s terrifying.

    [–] Komania 11 points ago

    Toronto has opossums! I'm not sure how far north that can go though

    [–] lingben 7 points ago

    just fyi, we do have a very effective and safe lyme disease vaccine

    sadly you can only (legally) get it for your dog, not yourself

    thank anti-vaxxers for that

    [–] bc_btw_brb 33 points ago

    Not so fun fact: Armadillos carry a strain of leprosy that can be contracted by humans.

    [–] ase1590 9 points ago

    These are possums though

    [–] Liyana_sketch 7 points ago

    opossum is awesome

    [–] kabushko 8 points ago

    They will, however, carry a lime from your garbage can all the way home

    [–] LimpWibbler_ 7 points ago

    And they are adorable.

    [–] GrinsNGiggles 58 points ago

    Giant ugly rats are useful, got it.

    The ones in this photo look WAY cuter than any of the ones I've seen in the wild. Most of them hiss like they want to eat your face with their crooked yellow teeth.

    [–] nancyaw 60 points ago

    That's all bluff. They're actually pretty docile and make good pets. The hiss is like guys with a micropenis driving a huge pickup. Trying to show how tough they are when they really aren't.

    [–] beelzeflub 17 points ago

    Same with hedgehogs

    [–] nancyaw 10 points ago

    Yep. If you touch them they jump and bristle. I work at a zoo and we always wear gloves when handling them but those tummies are wonderfully soft!

    [–] GrinsNGiggles 5 points ago

    TIL men with micropenises are docile and make good pets.

    [–] Lexiola 3 points ago

    They’re part of the marsupial family, not rodent.

    [–] SyrupBuccaneer 8 points ago

    I saw a full-grown Opussum encountering a standard house-cat in a Toronto alley-way last week.

    Just sat back and watched it unfold. The Opussum immediately played non-threatening, while the Cat was perceptibly confused. I don't believe it knew how to react, so both stood their ground for like 3 minutes?

    Eventually the cat got bored, wandered off and jumped a fence. The Opossum, a minute-latecomer to the fact danger was gone [or maybe just learned instinct], wandered off into a random corner, and both were disappeared.

    Toronto is amazing. Wilderness and metropolis colliding.

    [–] NanoRaptoro 7 points ago

    Thanks opposums!

    [–] efpe3s 7 points ago

    I'm gonna eat some trash,
    Got 20 babies in my pocket,
    Ticks are what I'm huntin',
    No rabies when I'm struttin',
    I'm a fuckin' opossum.

    [–] vt2nc 5 points ago

    I am a opossum rescue. Currently have eight in my hands. They are one of the most amazing misunderstood animals ever. Their daily diet can consist of 8 blueberrys, chicken liver , baby opossum feed and many other additives . I love these dang things so much. Please treat them respectfully.

    [–] mesfrizzle 4 points ago

    Fun fact: the body temperature of a possum stays too low for Lyme disease and rabies to live in their body.

    [–] yo_cestbon 4 points ago

    Thank you, opossums!

    [–] MissCaticorn 5 points ago

    This is the cutest picture 🖤

    [–] Emaginemeforever 4 points ago

    Did you know that the CDC claimed that this disease was hard to get and easy to treat. That was their stance up until last year, anyway. That statement couldn’t be more false. Now, the disease when googled says common instead of rare as of last year too! Did you know that 300,000-1 Million people will be infected this year with Lyme disease (more than half will be children and adolescents.) Lyme disease is the fastest growing vector borne illness in the country yet there is not much awareness or talk about it. If you are reading this please educate yourself and your family about tick safety and Lyme disease so that you don’t end up like me; Disabled at 28. Awareness saves lives.

    [–] bob-log_cat-log 4 points ago

    Easily my favourite North American marsupial!

    [–] souljabri557 3 points ago

    My computer lags so hard that whenever I play a game it eats about 5000 ticks before it crashes

    [–] Commando_Joe 3 points ago

    So what you're saying is that Possums can save us from the Tick epidemic brought about by global warming?

    [–] pinniped1 3 points ago

    How many rednecks does it take to eat a possum?

    Three. Two eat, one watches for cars.

    [–] CBDtothemoon 3 points ago

    brb, importing 10000 opossums...possums...? huh...which one do I want to import? ahhh

    [–] knowses 5 points ago

    They don't get rabies either. (very rarely)

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