Source (a fascinating read): https://outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org/articles/debunking-the-myth-opossums-dont-eat-ticks
Opossum Fact: Opossums do not eat ticks
Source (a fascinating read): https://outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org/articles/debunking-the-myth-opossums-dont-eat-ticks
46 Comments
ickplant@lemmy.world · 84 pts · 186d
Just FYI, I got a lot of flak for mentioning this fact in opossum communities on social media sites. No one wants to believe that they aren’t these amazing tick-eating heroes.
I say they are still heroes and prevent a lot of disease and nastiness! They just don’t eat ticks.
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world · 48 pts · 186d
If you’re on the US west coast, Western Fence Lizards are your Lyme disease fighting heroes.
https://daily.jstor.org/theres-something-about-lizard-blood/
mystrawberrymind@piefed.ca · 14 pts · 186d
This is so amazing, my mind is blown!! Gonna share this with everybody. Also that lizard pic as if it’s laughing is perfect😁
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 186d
My best fence lizard pic. They’re friends!
mystrawberrymind@piefed.ca · 6 pts · 186d
Too cute! :)
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 185d
so about lizard blood. do i have to eat the lizard blood or get the lizard blood on me to become immune to limeys
i have a fight with a british man in six hours so it's somewhat urgent
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 185d
Oh no… it’s been 12 hrs…
You alright?
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 185d
i mean this is me we're talking about.
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 184d
Oh, no, that part actually means you need to have lizard ancestry. A common misconception.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 184d
fuck. i merely tried injecting ground lizard tail. i, uh, had an interesting few hours.
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 184d
That could still work. Depends on where you injected it.
humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 185d
The very end of this article states possums are immune to Lyme disease and will pop them like m&ms when attacked... Are possums not the same as opossums?
LilDumpy@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 186d
There are more social media opossum communities than this one?
Where? I must know.
ickplant@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 186d
You’ll be disappointed because it’s Facebook groups and Instagram accounts. And they are starting to be overrun with AI images. So I focus on wildlife rescue accounts more since they will just post pics of animals in their care.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 186d
Learned this a few years ago and caught shit for trying to spread the truth too. People prefer a happy lie it seems.
a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 184d
I think you may have misjudged the opossum communities. You didn't just expect them to roll over and play dead with this new info, did you?
stringere@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 183d
oh you...
thisbenzingring@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 186d
they don't really live in the same environments, so concluding the the opossums ate them all was lazy
PapaStevesy@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 186d
Uh yeah they absolutely live in some of the same environments, what are you talking about? They both live in the Midwest US for sure.
thisbenzingring@lemmy.today · -1 pts · 186d
well it's definitely situational because in Washington State they don't
PapaStevesy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 186d
Having done very minimal research, yes they do. Just because you don't see them hanging out doesn't mean they're not there. Here's the opossum's range, at least three of these ticks live in the same region.
MrQuallzin@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 185d
I've seem more than my fair share of possums here
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 186d
I read the study a long time ago, it was to do with tick covered opossums. Also, I’ve got both in my yard.
HubertManne@piefed.social · 4 pts · 186d
they don't. we have forest preserves with deer and deer ticks and possums. I mean I would call that the same environment. coyotes and racoons and such to.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 185d
I say they are still heroes for being awesome marsupials living in North America. Not very many of those! It also doesn’t hurt that they’re super cute and rather comical in their expressions! I also don’t mind that people seem to be afraid of them, even though I know they’re harmless.
Us humans in our warm and cozy houses and apartments forget how brutal the elements of nature can be. All that rain and snow and tempestuous wind; all that humidity and blistering heat. Nature remains a very difficult place to survive in, even when you’re an awesome marsupial well-adapted to the local conditions. Climate change, logging, construction and encroachment into habitats; we humans put even more pressure on our four-legged friends!
deceiver@infosec.pub · 46 pts · 186d
really does paint a vivid picture of the opossum’s whole vibe - just an absolute gremlin waddling through life eating whatever, completely unbothered
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz · 19 pts · 186d
Wait really? Because I just recently made a joke which would look really stupid in retrospect
Jimbabwe@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 186d
Hey everybody!! sad_detective_man made a joke based on debunked scientific data!! What an absolute BUFFOON
Let’s all agree right here and now to never let this guy live it down. He is irrevocably besmirched. Way to throw your life away, kid.
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz · 38 pts · 186d
My death by firing squad approaches
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 14 pts · 186d
Tagging them now as "Doesn't know shit about Opossums"
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 185d
DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth · 9 pts · 186d
Up is down, down is up! Everything I was told is a lie!
betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 186d
Glad somebody is out there checking on this stuff. Lazy science really ticks me off.
determinist@kbin.earth · 7 pts · 186d
so
pwho DOES eat the ticks??MrVilliam@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 186d
Some weird guy who lives in the woods. He responds to Nathan. NEVER call him Nate.
kmartburrito@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 186d
I think his name is actually Old Gregg
DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth · 2 pts · 186d
Classic Old Gregg.
Drusas@fedia.io · 8 pts · 186d
Chickens!
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 186d
those people really tick me off.
Aeri@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 186d
The pro possum propaganda is acceptable as it increases their PR.
ace_of_based@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 186d
Possum PR predicated on prevarication? preposterous!
FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io · 7 pts · 186d
Kind of a bummer, but they still eat rotting dead stuff, so that's still a net benefit.
galoisghost@aussie.zone · 5 pts · 186d
You can’t just ask them to their faces. Of course they’re going to deny it.
finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 185d
That's the most horrified opossum expression I've ever seen!
candyman337@piefed.ca · 3 pts · 185d
They forgot to account for oppssoum ticks georg
teyrnon@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 185d
Boo, fuck off to this source. There are always possum haters that want to kill them all that deny they eat ticks and kill their stupid chickens.