# Opossums--spawn of evil, or adorably cute? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677 "2011-02-17T06:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/21 "2011-02-17T16:19:55Z")
They’re cute in the same “I still don’t want to hug it” way that rats are. I don’t have much of an opinion on them because I live too far north to see them in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/22 "2011-02-17T16:28:05Z")
I call the big one Bitey. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/23 "2011-02-17T16:36:23Z")
We had one that was living behind the garage a few months ago. Since we don’t have any outside pets to worry about I just let it go about its business. It got into it with a neighbor cat in my driveway one night, and I heard the famous possum screech full volume. It sounded like a recording of a cat being strangled that was played backwards at high speed. Totally freaky and unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/24 "2011-02-17T16:36:32Z")
After reading a story on another forum about one that Just. Wouldn’t. _Die_, I’m going to say spawn of evil. Doesn’t stop them being cute, though, especially as there is very little chance I will ever see one in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/25 "2011-02-17T16:52:40Z")
::writes down all the names of people who voted “cute”:: You people make me nervous. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/26 "2011-02-17T17:17:02Z")
Cute. I don’t see many, and the few I do are usually roadkill. Sadly the last one I saw was in my yard after my dog grabbed it. Thought it was dead. That whole playing possum thing is true! So I dumped it in my garbage can. Checked a bit later and it was still alive. Seriously cute. Little black shoe button eyes and cute little pink ears and a wee pink nose. Figured it was probably seriously injured by the dog, so animal control came out and euthanised it. Poor little guy. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/27 "2011-02-17T17:52:20Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > They are cute - but the damn things are a complete menance. I agree 100%, only the raccoon is a bigger menace (among smaller animals) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/28 "2011-02-17T17:54:48Z")
They can be both. I voted accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/29 "2011-02-17T18:00:38Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I agree 100%, only the raccoon is a bigger menace (among smaller animals) I’d rate the coon, possum and ground hog about equal. There are just more coon. I know somebody that had large holes chewed in their roof a couple times until the coon died. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/30 "2011-02-17T18:08:56Z")
I didn’t vote, because, to me, they’re really neither. Meh. It’s just an animal. 'Round these parts they’re native (I totally understand the down-under hate for invasive non-natives) and I have a live-and-let-live arrangement with nature. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/31 "2011-02-17T18:09:07Z")
Depends on the species. Some are [pretty darned cute](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Short-tailed_Opossum). The US species is pretty ugly, though [the first photo in this article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Opossum) is less ugly. And I say this as someone who thinks ferrets and domestic rats are adorable; I’ve seen opossums up close and personal, and they are ugly IMO. I wouldn’t kill one based on looks, though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/32 "2011-02-17T18:29:23Z")
From the Wiki article, a [pic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Newbaby.jpg) Now come _on,_ that is cute. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/33 "2011-02-17T18:47:36Z")
Like a lot of animals, they are cute when they are young, not so much when old and worn out. Heck, I was probably even cute at one time. Over all lifetime rating for the 'possom: cute. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/34 "2011-02-17T18:55:15Z")
Moving from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/35 "2011-02-17T19:38:02Z")
I guess I should have read the thread before voting. Apparently, we’ve got both species going on. I live in the US, and these here are ugly – long skinny nose with a bazillion razor sharp teeth. Dumber than a box of hair. We had one old one that lived in the barn of a wildlife refuge place I worked at when I was a teenager. His hips were arthritic, I guess, and he couldn’t make the bump over the threshhold some mornings, so he would just stand there, front feet in the barn, until one of us came by and gave him a boost, then he would saunter on into the barn to burrow down into the hay for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Morgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Morgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgis)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/36 "2011-02-17T20:02:25Z")
I’ve always thought they were [adorable](http://img1.eyefetch.com/p/jf/189326-7f9c4323-1509-46e9-b114-21544304f952l.jpg). All fuzzy with cute little hands and pink noses. I had a bunch of opossum stuffed animals when I was a girl. The teeth and the naked tail don’t bother me. Yes, I think rats are cute too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/37 "2011-02-17T20:11:15Z")
My vote is based on the US species, which I think is as ugly as sin. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/38 "2011-02-17T20:22:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > From the Wiki article, a [pic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Newbaby.jpg) > Now come _on,_ that is cute. 🙂 Well, that’s 'cause it’s a baby. It looks like Stuart Little. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/39 "2011-02-17T20:24:33Z")
[Awww](http://cuteoverload.com/2008/01/27/the-great-possu/)! I shall name her “Wossum”. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677/40 "2011-02-17T20:38:22Z")
A few years ago my terrier cornered one in our yard and barked and barked until I went out to investigate. That possum was hissing and baring its teeth and was a fearsome thing to behold. So no, not cute. Not cute at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opossums-spawn-of-evil-or-adorably-cute/571677.md?page=3)