22/11/2025
Opossums ARE the best! Encourage them to your dogs environment for a natural tick eradicator
Opossums are North America’s only native marsupial, and they’re remarkably resilient creatures that punch far above their weight in ecological value. First, their near-immunity to rattlesnake venom is real and well-documented.
Opossum blood contains a peptide called Lethal Toxin-Neutralizing Factor (LTNF) that binds to and neutralizes the proteins in many pit-viper venoms, including those of rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths.
Studies from institutions like Texas A&M and the University of Tampa have shown that injecting opossums with doses of venom that would kill most mammals leaves them largely unaffected. This isn’t total invincibility—they can still die from massive envenomation or infection—but it gives them a huge survival edge in snake-heavy habitats.
Second, rabies is extraordinarily rare in opossums. Their normal body temperature (around 94–97 °F) is too low for the rabies virus to replicate effectively. The CDC and state wildlife agencies report only a handful of confirmed rabies cases in opossums over decades, compared to thousands in raccoons, bats, and skunks.
They’re one of the safest wild mammals to encounter in terms of disease transmission. Third, they’re voracious tick-eaters. A 2009 study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society found that opossums groom themselves so meticulously that they can consume up to 5,000 ticks in a single season—over 95 % of the ticks that try to feed on them end up as snacks.
In Lyme-disease-heavy areas, a single opossum can remove thousands of potential disease vectors. Far from the filthy pests some people imagine, opossums are shy, non-aggressive, and play a quiet but massive role in controlling venomous snakes, ticks, and even garden pests (they love cockroaches and carrion). They’re nature’s understated cleanup crew—and yes, they deserve the love.
