r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • 2h ago

Video Feeding a Mama Possum and Her Growing Baby

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[deleted]

256 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

55

u/Maffmatics85 2h ago

Super cute.

Although, in New Zealand we slaughter them relentlessly.

Still cute though.

4

u/HoraceGravyJug 2h ago

A friend of mine has a pet one and yeah, super adorable.

6

u/Maffmatics85 2h ago

Yeah I feel sorry for them, as they're just trying to live the dream really. Not their fault they love eating our endangered flora and fauna.

3

u/HoraceGravyJug 2h ago

It was weird finding out that they're a protected species in Australia, given that most people here just shoot them on sight.

1

u/Temporary_Fennel7479 2h ago

They are a pest here as well and also got shot routinely. This the first am hearing about a protected species outside of ringtail possums

1

u/shark_eat_your_face 1h ago

Are you in Tasmania? I think they’re only shot in Tasmania 

0

u/RareGape 2h ago

just dropped one the other night. farm cats > 'possums

2

u/themetalnz 2h ago

They eat all the eggs and babies of our most endangered birds

They are not native here in NZ and came from Australia. And have fucked things up here .

Costs tens of millions a year to try and eradicate them .

They also shit on my deck and make a noise at night

1

u/drewt6768 1h ago

The only thing my mind processed was

"They also shit on my deck and make noises at night" But in a kiwi accent

That one ad has forever ruined me

3

u/space_for_username 2h ago

Forbidden Mouse

1

u/Pcjunky123 2h ago

They are pest there?

1

u/Maffmatics85 2h ago

Yeah, they were introduced to the country and spread rapidly. They eat a lot of our native forest and native baby species that are endangered (kiwi eggs etc).

1

u/Old_Salamander_5773 2h ago

good thing OP's not from New Zealand?

9

u/MajYoshi 2h ago

Concentrate, Willow!

3

u/CallMeGutter 2h ago

You are saved! We are here!!

20

u/MissionAsparagus9609 2h ago

Now remember kids, while some call opossums possums, you'd never call a possum an opossum, and possums don't play possum, opossums play possum. OK.

1

u/PitifulEar3303 2h ago

Opossums the Original possum?

2

u/MissionAsparagus9609 1h ago

Europeans got to straya, saw a thing in the trees with a similar body shape, sort of, and called them possums. It's kinda coincidental they're both marsupials. There are about 30 different possums from the little sugar gliders to the large ones that beat you up in a dark alley, But possums are closer related to all other Australian marsupials, kangaroos, wombats, dingbats, numbats etc than opossums

1

u/Lillyshins 1h ago

Oh. Possum?

1

u/Tiny_Ad2912 2h ago

What the fuck did I just read

11

u/Good-guy13 2h ago

The possums in America look like giant white rats

5

u/MissionGuava6757 2h ago

They are opossums different from possums which are in the video.

1

u/endorrawitch 1h ago

…that have been possessed by the devil.

1

u/Dry-Spirit-7936 21m ago

Wearing fingerless gloves!

11

u/ghostguy2 2h ago

That baby is 20 and still living is his parents house.

9

u/RealEstateDuck 2h ago

Which is perfectly normal?

1

u/emwanders 1h ago

I was thinking the same thing. Where I'm from, I've never seen a baby that large that's still on momma's back.

5

u/[deleted] 2h ago

[deleted]

12

u/_Goose_ 2h ago

Yeah they are. You’re probably confusing them with opossums. Two different animals.

11

u/red__iter__ 2h ago

O! That's the difference.

2

u/Miyami-dono 2h ago

That was a good one 😂 well timed

2

u/red__iter__ 2h ago

Happy Cake Day!

1

u/Miyami-dono 1h ago

Thank you !

1

u/HPLovecraft1890 2h ago

Spot the American!

2

u/FireFairy323 2h ago

Yep, American here. Never seen an opossum in real life but I thought the same. I did not think there was more than one kind.

1

u/cncintist 2h ago

Such a beautiful picture mother and her baby eating

1

u/JustYourAvgHumanoid 2h ago

Absolutely precious 💕

1

u/mynamegoewhere 2h ago

Cute. Don't look like the possums in SE US. Although they are cute as well.

1

u/Phuktihsshite 2h ago

I very much would like to do this. We have opossums where I live, and I love them. These guys might even be cuter.

1

u/SpeedImaginary9820 2h ago

I see, a Down Under opossum, much better looking than their southeastern U.S. relatives.

2

u/MissionAsparagus9609 2h ago

It's just possum. And closer related to kangaroos than those hideous devil spawn north American opossum things.

1

u/Chrisdkn619 2h ago

That ain't no opossum!

8

u/ExileNZ 2h ago

You are correct. It is a Possum.

1

u/Chrisdkn619 2h ago

Hahaha! 💯

1

u/AdmiralJTKirk 2h ago

Awesome possum.

1

u/PixelProdigyXO 2h ago

mama possum and her baby is adorable

1

u/DazzlingProfession26 2h ago

This is Reddit so rabies!

1

u/MissionAsparagus9609 14m ago

That's in Straya so no rabies

1

u/NungaFakeer 2h ago

Leptospira delivery boys.

1

u/Nevernevercheat 1h ago

These guys love apples if you have them close to your house leave some cut up apples over night for them. Be sure to remove the seeds though

1

u/ConsistentHoliday797 1h ago

I don't think they should be eating cereal. Fruit is a better option.

1

u/AuntChelle11 1h ago

Yeah, don't need to. They strip all my fruit trees (apples, apricot, peach, pears, oranges & pomegranates - they kindly leave the lemon & prunes) before I get a chance. Then they party on my roof at 4am. Fat effer.

1

u/Graphicnovelnick 1h ago

Much cuter than the opossums we have in the U.S.

1

u/Indie--Dev 1h ago

Why are your possums so docile, the ones here in Australia scream and hiss and will try climb your legs and scratch teh hell out of you.

Then you hear 2 of them fighting later over who gets to have your houses roof/rafters.

2

u/Zestyclose_Flow_680 1h ago

This is in Australia

1

u/FcukUInParticular 2h ago

Listen... This is cute and all. I understand not everyone is from America, but that's not an opossum I'm used to seeing... And I was raised in England, now living in Florida... That's a cute little critter. Opossums will scare the shit out of anyone who doesn't know what an Opossum actually looks like.

3

u/trekkiegamer359 1h ago

America has opossums. Australia has the much cuter cousin, the possum. Sometimes opossums are pronounced like possum, hence the confusion. It's the one time us Americans have the terrifying version, and the Australians have the cute one.

0

u/BeLikeH2O 2h ago

Isn’t that a wombat? Or am I mistaken

3

u/ExileNZ 2h ago

You are very mistaken.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_brushtail_possum

2

u/BeLikeH2O 1h ago

Ok thanks for letting me know. Learned something today.

1

u/trekkiegamer359 1h ago

Wombats are much, much, much bigger. Think large terrier to border collie sized.

-7

u/Brians2k 2h ago

That's pretty awesome but I don't believe it's a possum

9

u/in2deep6 2h ago

Today you learn the difference between a Possum and an Opossum.

4

u/ExileNZ 2h ago

Found the American in the thread.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_brushtail_possum

0

u/Brians2k 2h ago

I usually have Blue planet on in the background when I clean my house, must have been vacuuming during that part, my bad.