# Opossums: Cute, or ugly?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 3, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911 "2017-02-03T15:32:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/21 "2017-02-03T17:44:43Z")
Definitely cute.
I also think crows are pretty cool, so I’m used to being in the minority on animals.
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### Author:  [@Maurie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maurie)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/22 "2017-02-03T17:45:43Z")
God, so cute!
I’ve always been baffled by people who are so grossed out by them. Other than some people, I really can’t think of any mammals I find repulsive.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/23 "2017-02-03T17:56:46Z")
> [@Maurie](#):
>
> Other than some people, I really can’t think of any mammals I find repulsive.
[I can.](http://www.arkive.org/naked-mole-rat/heterocephalus-glaber/image-G74673.html)
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/24 "2017-02-03T18:01:58Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> The babies are cute. The adults, not so much.
Yep. A baby possum is _darn_ cute. A big old one?\* not so much.\*
But 'coons are almost always cute.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/25 "2017-02-03T18:06:36Z")
Something about their mouth and nose is a bit ugly. The rest is fine. From a sufficient distance not to be able to really see the nose, and if their mouth is closed, then cute. Close up, mouth open, not so much.
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### Author:  [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/26 "2017-02-03T18:12:57Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#):
>
> Something about their mouth and nose is a bit ugly. The rest is fine. From a sufficient distance not to be able to really see the nose, and if their mouth is closed, then cute. Close up, mouth open, not so much.
Well sure, but that’s not a fair way to judge. Anything can look ugly in certain circumstances. If [Beyoncé was snarling](http://www.realityravings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/beyonce-snarling.jpg) at me like she wanted to rip my arm off, she’s not going to look that good. But I’d still call her cute overall.
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### Author:  [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/27 "2017-02-03T18:15:01Z")
They’re cuter than shit when they’re little, but when they get big they look like Satan’s lap dog.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/28 "2017-02-03T18:16:06Z")
> [@TroutMan](#):
>
> I also think crows are pretty cool, so I’m used to being in the minority on animals.
Me too. I give them peanuts. I haven’t gotten them to get very close, but a couple will perch on the roof and even edge their way close to the low side. Beautiful birds.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/29 "2017-02-03T18:20:23Z")
> [@Washoe](#):
>
> They’re cuter than shit when they’re little, but when they get big they look like Satan’s lap dog.
I read that as ‘_Santa’s_ lap dog’.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXYnFMmI4Jg)
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### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/30 "2017-02-03T18:26:47Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#):
>
> I voted “cute,” but I can’t resist this opportunity to link to the brilliant [Everything What’s Wrong Of Possums: It’s All Of Them](http://the-toast.net/2016/05/12/everything-whats-wrong-of-possums-its-all-of-them/).
:D:D:D
“you lack gravitas you assed hole”
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/31 "2017-02-03T18:33:44Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#):
>
> Adorably cute. My dog jumped one in our yard, which promptly played dead. So I brought my dog inside and hunched over it for a while as it continued to play dead. Every minute or so, it would open and eye and look around, see me looking back, then blink it shut and give a fresh new ‘death spasm’ to try and fool me.
>
> Totes adorbs!
Our dog brought a “dead” opossum into our house one night. We pushed it out the front door and waited. It took about 20 minutes to come back to life and walk away. It really did look dead.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/32 "2017-02-03T18:53:02Z")
Useful, maybe. Interesting, yes.
But ugly as sin. The adults are ugly, [the babies are ugly](http://allaboutcarnivorousplants.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/3675578_orig.jpg), I’m betting opossums look ugly under the microscope at the fertilized egg stage.
On the bright side, they’re not as bad-tempered as raccoons.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/33 "2017-02-03T18:56:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Me too. I give them peanuts. I haven’t gotten them to get very close, but a couple will perch on the roof and even edge their way close to the low side. Beautiful birds.
We have a pair of ravens I occasionally give meat scraps to. They recognize me, and will come down right after I drop the scraps, getting withing a couple yards of me. Darn smart birds.
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### Author:  [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/34 "2017-02-03T19:04:10Z")
An opossum killed one of my chickens, so they aren’t getting any positive feedback from me on any aspect of their appearance, character, dignity, or behavior. I shoot them on sight.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/35 "2017-02-03T19:15:39Z")
Your wife is an opossum? 😕
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### Author:  [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/36 "2017-02-03T19:15:41Z")
Cute.
I’ve raised many little ones and returned 'em back to the wild… except for one who turned out to be a homing ‘possum - she returned back to my patio where she built a sleeping nest in a empty half-barrel. It was filled with dried grass and lined with fresh fern fronds that got replaced by her every week or so. She also would bring scraps of garbage(newspapers, plastic wrappers and such) to fortify the nest. The most unusual things she brought back were a 20’ disposable plastic painting tarp and a long strip of crime scene tape(no idea where THAT got picked up).
Having her around kept the slugs n snails cleared out of the patio garden patch. Offer up leftover fruits n veggies for your local 'possums so they’ll hang around and help rid your garden of pests, a much better solution than using slug bait - it’s poisonous for dogs and cats if they get into it.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/37 "2017-02-03T19:17:18Z")
I like opossums, but I’m sorry, I had to vote ugly.
Now, if you want a cute opossum you could go for the [Wooly Opossum](http://blog.tranquilobay.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/centralamericanwoolyopossum.jpg) or even better [Mouse Opossum.](https://c1.staticflickr.com/2/1696/23814114190_d23088704d_b.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/38 "2017-02-03T19:47:06Z")
My household is the same, my wife thinks ugly and I think cute.
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### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/39 "2017-02-03T19:53:38Z")
Ugly … and they stink …
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-cute-or-ugly/778911/40 "2017-02-03T20:42:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The two are not mutually exclusive.
Agreed; the poll could have had a choice for “both.”
(Sorta like bulldogs. Ugly…and totally loving.)
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