Do opossums pretend to die, in order to scare off predators, or for some other reason?

Possums are as small as mice, and the largest are much larger than cats. Despite their very different sizes, they have many things in common: a long snout and a small pointed beak like a mouse; The small ears are hairless and somewhat transparent; Like a soft whip, it can wrap its long tail around a branch; There are 5 toes on each foot, and the thumb on each hind foot can be folded up to fit close to the sole of the foot; 50 fully functional teeth, meat and vegetarian all-you-can-eat.

These commonalities are just in general, short-tailed possums beg for life on the ground, rarely go up trees, and their short tails play a balancing role.

Possums are natural masters of playing dead, when they play dead, their bellies are bulging, their feet are facing the sky, their mouths are open, their tongues are closed, their bodies tremble, their body temperature drops, and even their breathing and heartbeat will stop. Possums also have a trick up their sleeve when faced with predators who still refuse to leave, as they excrete a foul-smelling liquid from their stinky glands, which leaves the predator with the illusion that the corpse has decomposed. Few predators would be interested in carrion, and opossums escaped.

The "suspended animation" time of opossums can range from a few minutes to several hours. During this period, when the "thief" was found in the chicken shed, he often kicked it out of the house as a nasty dead mouse; And many carnivorous beasts, having the habit of not eating dead bodies, mistakenly believe that they are really dead, so they have to leave in disappointment. At this moment, the opossum returned to normal, and when it saw that there was no danger around, it immediately got up and fled.

North American possums have a wide range of food, is an omnivorous animal, can eat different types of plants and animals, etc., is also a very short life of animals, wild North American possums can only live for about 2 years, even if they are bred in captivity, there is no threat of natural enemies, North American possums can only live for about 4 years!

Most creatures have the instinct to survive, opossums are no exception, as a part of nature, everyone is trying to evolve for a better survival, even small animals cherish life so much, we must understand the preciousness of life.

In order to be able to buy time for yourself to run, "pretending" to die can reduce the predator's attention to yourself and be able to escape better.

Fake death to buy yourself time to escape, and after pretending to die, you can reduce the predator's vigilance against the opossum, and you can escape better.

The opossum "feigns" to be dead in order to fool the predator, and then wait until there is no danger around it before returning to normal.

Playing dead is a possum's specialty. The Virginia possum is the only species native to the United States"Marsupials"。It is about the same size as a domestic cat, moves slowly, and plays dead when it encounters danger.

The reason why the opossum's trick of pretending to be dead works is that any of the best beasts - lions, tigers, and wolves dare not rush to approach the prey that has just died. Fear suppresses the appetite of predators, causing them to temporarily lose interest in their prey, which provides an opportunity for the possum to escape. And the anomalous behavior of the opossum from pretending to be dead to suddenly fleeing for their lives frightened the predators, and they will no longer chase the prey they have in hand.

It is by virtue of the trick of playing dead that the opossum has been able to survive on the earth for 70 million years. But unfortunately, the tricks of the past are not very effective in modern society, and if it pretends to be dead on the highway, it will definitely die a miserable death.

Possums will play dead, but not intentionally. Possums are the most adept at camouflage among mammals, and it is an instinct to take advantage of suspended animation.

Tell why the little animal pretends to be dead?

Generally, insects pretend to be dead a lot, and there are very few other sources, and it's some animals that don't have a strong ability to move that they choose this defense mechanism, and some animals can learn to play dead.

Have you ever seen a fish that pretends to be dead? I had one at home, and I raised it with a turtle, and I either played with the turtle or played with him every day, and he didn't play with the turtle when he saw that the turtle didn't move, and that fish actually came to this trick! After 2-3 days, he learned to play dead and depressed.

The turtle that came back bit him to death Who told him to pretend to be dead when he was bitten by a turtle, and was eaten by the turtle 55555555

Such a clever fish died so miserably.

Mosquitoes, cockroaches. All pests.

The world's most capable animal at pretending to be dead, the appearance of pretending to be dead makes natural enemies have no appetite, and it has been tried and tested repeatedly!

To put it simply, it's actually because of the genetics of their species. Pretending to be dead is actually a Virginia possum skill. The Virginia possum is the only native bagged animal in the United States because it is about the size of a domestic cat and has a slow movement.

The Virginia possum will feign death as soon as it encounters danger, and the Virginia possum's trick of playing dead works because of any ferocious beast lion. Neither the tiger nor the wolf dared to approach the dead prey lightly.

Fear inhibits the appetite of predators, causing them to temporarily lose interest in the prey they have already obtained, which provides the Virginia opossum with a chance to escape, however the anomalous behavior of the opossum from playing dead to fleeing for their lives suddenly shocks the hunters, who will not go after the prey they have obtained. Virginia possums, with their unique skill of feigning death, have survived on Earth for 70 million years.

Unfortunately, however, the tricks of the past are not very useful in modern society, and if it pretends to die in the middle of the highway, it will surely die tragically. The teeth of Virginia opossums include incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. They have entwined tails that young Virginia possums can use to hang from trees.

The Virginia possum has an opposing tentacle on its hind feet. The tentacles have a similar effect to the thumb, making it easy to grasp branches and climb.

The urinary tract of female Virginia opossums is very different from that of placental mammals, and the cloaca is a common opening in the genitourinary tract and gastrointestinal tract. Virginia opossums have the bones of a bagged animal and a pouch with hair and 13 mammary glands on their abdomen. Both male and female Virginia possums have cloacal glands that secrete oily secretions with a white color, and when the Virginia possum is threatened, it feigns death to avoid a **eater attack.

Because Virginia possums are able to neutralize the venom of venomous snakes, the venom of venomous snakes is quickly neutralized when it enters their bodies.

Because their muscles have mutations in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that have evolved the ability not to bind to neurotoxin, they also have the ability to be immune to venomous snakes.

Because Virginia possums are capable of combining the venom of venomous snakes, the venom of venomous snakes can be quickly neutralized when it enters their bodies.

And Venegia possums are genetically stronger, and they can use the skill of feigned death to escape some dangers.

Because the body of the Virginia opossum has a special liquid that resists poisonous snakes, it is related to the food that the Virginia opossum usually eats, and it forms an anti-toxicity in the body after long-term consumption.