Species compete for territory and resources in the urban natural environment. While we don’t always see them, there are little creatures hanging out in cities that are in competition with each other. This can lead to conflict.

Rivalries amongst animals competing for the same territory and resources are occasionally caught on camera. That’s what happened recently when a trail cam caught an interesting interaction between a skunk and opossum.

Trail cam footage wins an award.

Trail Cam Pro organized a contest for users of their products to submit their most interesting or unusual trail cam footage. The video featured here was shot by Betsy Potter, who ended up winning the competition. Potter’s footage caught the hilarious moment an opossum pushed a skunk into a pond.

Skunks and opossums fight sometimes.

Skunks and opossums sometimes find themselves in competition for the same space and resources. The two species eat many of the same foods including insects, mice, and rats.

While there are definitely stories about skunks and opossums getting along peacefully, they have been known to fall into conflict with one another often.

It is not uncommon to see the two fighting with one another, but what happened on the trail this day wasn’t quite that. As an opossum was walking along by the pond, it noticed a skunk was sitting on the water’s edge.

The sassy opossum gave the skunk a little tap that sent it headfirst into the water.

Just asserting that it is their space.

What Potter’s camera caught was not so much a fight as it was the opossum simply removing the skunk from its path. They just seemed like they wanted the little stinker out of the way. We’ve probably all felt that way about a skunk at one point or another.

The skunk plays it cool.

The skunk wasn’t going to let the opossum feel like they got the better of them. They got out of the water and just acted as though nothing at all had happened.

By the time they got back out of the water, the opossum had already gone. The situation was over and they could go back to doing what they had been doing.

Are opossums aggressive creatures?

While this little guy may have been a touch aggressive with the skunk, opossums generally avoid confrontation rather than take part in it. They will attempt to look scary and hiss at humans or other animals, but they aren’t looking for a fight.

Opossums actually will “play dead” in order to avoid confrontation. If they are in a scary or potentially dangerous situation, opossums will fall to the ground and remain motionless. This can often lead to a predator simply choosing to leave them alone.

This is actually an involuntary response from the opossum, however. They aren’t so much playing dead as they are simply falling into a catatonic state. The end result is the same, however, and this trait has allowed opossums to survive in the urban wildlife environment.

Opossums play a vital role in the environment.

Humans should be glad that opossums have thrived in the urban environment. They provide a valuable service for us by eating ticks. These insects can pass illnesses such as Lyme disease to humans.

Are skunks aggressive creatures?

Skunks are not generally aggressive unless they have contracted rabies. What skunks will do, however, is spray potential threats with a foul-smelling odor.

It’s one of the coolest tricks that exist in the animal kingdom. Perhaps the opossum in this story simply didn’t want to get hit with the skunk’s spray and we can’t blame them for that.

Watch the video below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Trailcampro/KXRB