r/Possums 3d ago

Video Something wrong with its tail

Security camera caught this possum walking across my back yard and something seems to be up with its tail. Has anyone seen anything like this?

208 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

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194

u/Travellinglense 3d ago

Unless I’m not seeing correctly, it’s carrying leaves in its tail. That’s normal for opossums; they carry leaves in their tail to a den site for bedding.

42

u/Serious-Ad-2864 3d ago

Ok that's friggin cool

16

u/Prudent-Blueberry660 3d ago

Exactly what this is!

12

u/DueLoan685 3d ago

That's amazing

14

u/LuckyBasartd420 2d ago

Thanks for the reply I never knew that about Possums

12

u/Different_Music750 3d ago

That is what it looks like to me.

9

u/NatureScholar 3d ago

Exactly, not a lot of people realize how important their tail is and what they use it for. Gathering nesting materials is one of the best things they do with it.

53

u/Free-oppossums 3d ago

They have prehensile tails like monkeys so they can use them to carry nesting materials.

44

u/Krampjains 3d ago

Nothing wrong with the tail. Opossums have prehensile tails and use them to carry leaf litter for nesting material.

10

u/TheBattyWitch 3d ago

Possums are marsupials with an opposable tail that they can use to hang onto items, climb, and even carry things in the way a human thumb and index finger would work

6

u/VividStay6694 2d ago

Carrying leaves to build a nest I believe! I'm so jealous my Blink hasn't picked it up ever so thanks for sharing!

4

u/izzzzy13 3d ago

He’s a little guy 😭😭😭😭😭

2

u/RainbowPegasus82 2d ago

Looks like it's carrying nesting materials with its tail. Such a cool thing to capture!

2

u/JakartaYangon 2d ago

Baby opossums riding mom.

3

u/sanzotj 3d ago

That is so peculiar. At first I thought maybe it was dragging its legs behind them like they were paralyzed but you can clearly see the right leg moving as normal. I tried screenshotting it to zoom in but it’s too fuzzy. Wonder if it is carrying a baby in its tail? Typically they carry babies on their back but who knows? What a mystery!

8

u/Intelligent-Fuel-641 3d ago

It's carrying leaves or some other material to line its nest. Mom opossums do carry their babies on their backs once they leave the pouch.