Opossums can be cute if you’re looking at a photo of one that’s not growling. But when you see one in person, they tend to be a little less charming.

Despite looking like rodents, the opossums native to the Americas are actually marsupials (their babies are carried in pouches). But that doesn’t keep people from seeing them as pests, especially since they like to invade basements and other parts of homes to make nests in the winter.

Then there’s their penchant for breaking into garbage cans and making a mess.

But the biggest threat from opossums comes from their ability to carry diseases (though they are extremely unlikely to carry rabies since their body temperature is too low for the virus to survive).

While most of us could happily go our whole lives without ever encountering the creatures, they do actually benefit the ecosystem. For example, their presence is good for gardeners because they love to feast on slugs and other plant-destroying species.

But one of their favorite things to eat is ticks – and as we all know, we could do with fewer of those.

Tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease (which affects at least 30,000 people a year), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and tularemia affect more people every year and lead to decades of suffering and millions of dollars in medical costs.

The average opossum can eat thousands of ticks (some say 5,000) per season, helping to reduce the disease threat to humans. So it’s always nice to see an opossum having a tick feast.

That’s exactly what the Vermont Wildlife Coalition found on a trail cam back in October of 2019. They posted a photo from the nighttime video to Facebook where it quickly went viral, racking up almost 50,ooo shares in just a few months.

They captioned the photo:

“Trail cam snaps photo of an opossum eating ticks off of a willing deer’s head! Edit: PHOTO by Greg Swann, who told VWC that indeed the opossum was nibbling ticks!
Opossums can eat up to 5000 ticks in a 2-3 month period, and are resistant to rabies due to their low body temperature. Excellent allies in curbing this particular Lyme disease vector.
Trappers don’t like them because they trigger traps set for coyote and other animals.”

While animals exist in symbiotic relationships far better than humans do, the shot was deemed positively heartwarming by many.

Part of the reason the photo was shared was that opossums are often killed in traps (usually because they set off traps meant for larger animals, like coyotes).

While trappers are never excited to see an opossum in their equipment, the point is that anything that kills these creatures should be monitored more closely since they play a vital role in the ecosystem – and one that benefits humans.

Of course, many were eager to point out that they can, in fact, harm other animals and aren’t always great to have around. For example, they carry Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (or EPM) which can be fatal to horses. This led to a typical back-and-forth between self-appointed “experts” on whether or not the photo was indeed endearing and if opossums were good or not. Then again, cats also decimate local wildlife populations. It all depends on your perspective.

In the end, it was a good reminder that animals we often see as pests play roles we know nothing about.

Be sure to scroll down to see the original Facebook post and comments.

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Source: Bored Panda, Vermont Wildlife Coalition via Facebook