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I thought it was a RAT!!!!!
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 56638" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Whatever it was, it sounds like it was probably dying from rat poison. Opossums are omnivores, they'll eat whatever. They're also very ratlike, much more so than our brushtail possums. Opossums have small eyes like a rat, not the big, round, brown eyes like ours Down Under. Also I think our 'brushies' are bigger than the opossums. Yours have a longer muzzle, at least partly bare, while ours have shorter, furrier faces. I'd hate to meet a rat the size of our brushies. Ours are roughly cat-sized. And I mean a big cat.</p><p>Opossums have a number of babies at one time, brushies generally only have one. Ringtail possums often have two, but rarely more. And with all of them, when the babies are big enough to hold on, they ride on the parent's back. If that back is crowded, they get pushed off more easily and babies often go astray when they fall off. Our parent possums will go back and get a baby, I assume the opossum would too, but it might be easier for a young opossum to go astray (or get led astray) by rat poison or snail bait. It really doesn't take much of either.</p><p></p><p>Opossums have pink feet, but so do a lot of rats. A dark-furred rat is more likely to have darker pigmented skin on its feet, but the soles are generally always pink. Not sure about your opossums, but our brushies have weird feet - their back feet have two opposable big toes. A rat's hind foot looks more like a normal hand in configuration - a bit like a chimpanzee hand. Their front paws are very hand-like, but that's the same for brushies and opossums.</p><p>Not sure about whether marsupials can carry rabies - I wouldn't rule it out, but they ARE more physiologically different to most other mammals.</p><p></p><p>I'm glad the poor little thing is dead. Sounds like it was suffering.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 56638, member: 1991"] Whatever it was, it sounds like it was probably dying from rat poison. Opossums are omnivores, they'll eat whatever. They're also very ratlike, much more so than our brushtail possums. Opossums have small eyes like a rat, not the big, round, brown eyes like ours Down Under. Also I think our 'brushies' are bigger than the opossums. Yours have a longer muzzle, at least partly bare, while ours have shorter, furrier faces. I'd hate to meet a rat the size of our brushies. Ours are roughly cat-sized. And I mean a big cat. Opossums have a number of babies at one time, brushies generally only have one. Ringtail possums often have two, but rarely more. And with all of them, when the babies are big enough to hold on, they ride on the parent's back. If that back is crowded, they get pushed off more easily and babies often go astray when they fall off. Our parent possums will go back and get a baby, I assume the opossum would too, but it might be easier for a young opossum to go astray (or get led astray) by rat poison or snail bait. It really doesn't take much of either. Opossums have pink feet, but so do a lot of rats. A dark-furred rat is more likely to have darker pigmented skin on its feet, but the soles are generally always pink. Not sure about your opossums, but our brushies have weird feet - their back feet have two opposable big toes. A rat's hind foot looks more like a normal hand in configuration - a bit like a chimpanzee hand. Their front paws are very hand-like, but that's the same for brushies and opossums. Not sure about whether marsupials can carry rabies - I wouldn't rule it out, but they ARE more physiologically different to most other mammals. I'm glad the poor little thing is dead. Sounds like it was suffering. Marg [/QUOTE]
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