How To Tell If A Possum Is Playing Dead

Possums need a lot of food to survive and thrive, so if you have a big garden, a compost pile, or a bin full of scraps, you might have them living in your garden. If you do find possums in your yard but don't want any damage done to your house or garden in the future, attempt to make the area undesirable for them. For example, if they are getting into the trash at night, try keeping the trash cans inside until morning or put a cover on them to keep them out. If there is an open crawl space under your house that a possum was able to break into and get into your attic and the space is too small for you to enter manually, call a Humane Possum Removal Brisbane immediately and let them take care of it for you.

Possums are weird and fascinating animals. They can even play dead to escape from predators, but there's more to the story than that. Here are some of their natural behaviours and how you can tell if they're dead or alive. These all relate to How To Tell If A Possum Is Playing Dead.

How To Tell If A Possum Is Playing Dead:

• Classic "Dead" Pose

The classic pose a possum takes when you think it has died is called the "dead" pose. It's easy to spot because the possum will stick its head and legs straight up in the air and its body will be limp.

Possums are marsupial mammals that give birth to their young in pouches on their backs. Although this is an unusual way for most animals to raise their young, it does have its advantages: for example, it means that if something were to attack your house during a night raid (or even if you just want to take care of business outside), you don't have to worry about having your babies trampled or eaten by predators.

Still not convinced on How To Tell If A Possum Is Playing Dead? Let's look at some other reasons why we think these critters aren't actually dead or you may hire our Possum Pest Controllers.

• Food In Mouth

If you see a possum with food in its mouth, it's not dead. Possums are omnivores and can eat anything. They will also eat insects, fruit, berries, leaves and small animals like mice or birds' eggs if they get lucky enough to find them somewhere nearby.

Possums have very strong jaws that can crush bones so eating is not necessary for survival - but if the possum does happen upon something tasty then there's no doubt about what he'll do next.

• Body Movements

Possums can be very still when they are playing dead. They might twitch their tails or make little movements, but if you approach them and find that the body is stiff and immobile, it's most likely not a possum playing dead. If you see a possum drooling from its mouth, this is also another sign that it's not really dead and you need to hire Expert Possum Control Service.

• Escape From the Predators.

Possums are weird and fascinating animals. They can play dead to escape from predators. Possums are not rodents, they are marsupials. A marsupial is an animal that has a pouch in its abdomen that it carries its young in when they’re born (also called pups).

The Deadly Kiss

A possum's deadly kiss is a toxin that it can produce. It's not strong enough to kill humans, but it will make you sick for a few days.

Possums have this toxin in their saliva and when they bite someone or something else, the venom causes paralysis. If you get bitten by an animal like this, don't freak out just stay calm. You might get sick for two weeks or so (and if you do, don't worry: it doesn't last long) but you should go for Possum Extermination Service or ask for more tips on How To Tell If A Possum Is Playing Dead from our company’s experts.

Playing Dead In Other Animals

Playing dead is a defence mechanism for many animals. It can be used to avoid being eaten, attacked and killed by predators, or captured. Possums play dead when they sense danger. If a possum feels threatened by another animal (such as a cat), it will fall over on its back with its feet sticking up in the air like a corpse. This way it appears dead and less likely to be noticed by the predator so that it can escape unscathed from the encounter. You can also read some insights on possums are around! follow these tips for safe removal!

Conclusion

We hope that this article has helped you understand how to tell if a possum is playing dead. They are amazing animals and deserve respect but if they bother you, contact us for Professional Possum Removal.