# Most intelligent marsupial **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774 "2020-04-14T15:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/61 "2020-07-19T06:23:54Z")
They need to take care of their teeth–they have 50 of them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/62 "2020-07-19T08:31:03Z")
So as I was sitting outside writing the above post on my phone, a possum was creeping around me. I took a few photos and then decided to try for [video](https://youtu.be/nA2lCNn3faE). Be sure to watch to the end. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/63 "2020-07-19T15:51:35Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Be sure to watch to the end That was fun! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/64 "2020-07-19T21:16:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So as I was sitting outside writing the above post on my phone, a possum was creeping around me. I took a few photos and then decided to try for [video](https://youtu.be/nA2lCNn3faE). Be sure to watch to the end. Cute. So where roughly do you live to be so hip-deep in possums? Of all the weird critters around here, possums just don’t seem to be our thing. 5 foot iguanas OTOH. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/65 "2020-07-19T21:52:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So where roughly do you live to be so hip-deep in possums? You ever pilot the route from ATL to GSP? If so, you’ve probably flown pretty much straight over me, because I’m on that line. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/66 "2020-07-20T04:10:25Z")
That was great! He nearly bumbled face-first into his new, ah, friend. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/67 "2020-07-20T04:36:15Z")
The cat looks like it’s just getting tired of kicking out all the tweeker wooden-fence-eating possums that wander in. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/68 "2020-07-20T06:59:28Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Possum King? Well, [there is a Possum Kingdom](https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/possum-kingdom), so it follows that there must be a king. [![](https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/possum-kingdom/gallery/possum-kingdom_0125.jpg) ](https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/possum-kingdom/gallery/possum-kingdom_0125.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/69 "2020-07-20T07:42:59Z")
There is a area of SC not too far from me called Possum Kingdom. It doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, but it does have a [kreamery](https://www.pkkreamery.com/about_us). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/70 "2020-07-20T07:44:48Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > That was great! He nearly bumbled face-first into his new, ah, friend. Yes, they have the survival instincts of…um…something with very poor survival instincts. (And note that I was holding the camera about _a foot_ away from him _with the light on_ and he was completely oblivious to it.) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/71 "2020-07-20T12:49:53Z")
They have the survival skills of something that isn’t eaten often & whose means of avoiding their few predators is to keel over and play very, very dead. (Including leaking from various orifices. Give 'em an Oscar.) In other words, possums don’t _have_ to pay attention to their surroundings … much like human hikers secure in their knowlege that they’ve got bear mace or a shotgun. Bumble around, trample whatever is in your way, no need to pay attention to carnivores in your immediate vicinity. Who knows? Maybe possums are deep in thought, deciding the great debates of our time or pondering cold fusion or drafting poetry. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/72 "2020-07-20T18:16:23Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You ever pilot the route from ATL to GSP? If so, you’ve probably flown pretty much straight over me, because I’m on that line. Yup; that’s possum country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774.md?page=3)