do Opossums eat Ticks (44)
Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) are a common synanthrope in North America, and serve as host to many species of ectoparasites. Research on captive Virginia opossums estimated that opossums eat, on average, 5500 larval ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) per week. To investigate this apparent preference
We goofed. Like many organizations, we ve spent several years claiming that opossums eat a large number of ticks, and that they help to combat the spread of tickborne illness. We had fact-checked our information we always do! and claims about opossums as tick-eaters were supported by credible sources like the Cary Insti...
There seems to be a pervasive pattern in the way naturalists and the media talk about invasives species. Invasives are qualified and their merits as a species evaluated by the impact they have ecosystems. They universally receive negative marks by those who grade them, getting dinged because their fruits are less nutrit...
North America s only marsupial, opossums rear their young in fur-lined pouches. Like kangaroos, baby opossums are called joeys. The gestation period is about 12 days, the blind, hairless newborns crawl to the mother s pouch and nurse for approximately 100 days. Opossums are transient and den in just about anywhere that ...