Mothers really can do it all.
It took all of my strength to not come up with some sort of short-form, possum-themed parody to Reba’s “I’m A Survivor” to go with this video. After all, this footage does feature what appears to be a single mom who loves her kids and never stops – not even when she’s facing off against a bobcat.
From the moment possums are brought into the world, it is survival of the fittest. Female possums usually have upwards of 25 babies when giving birth, with each of them being smaller than honey bee. Mother possums are known to be very nurturing to their offspring, but there’s only one issue: the baby possums often outnumber the mother’s available nutrients.
Specifically, female possums only have 13 nipples, and when a baby possum latches on, it doesn’t let go for weeks on end. That sadly means that almost half of the newborn possums usually don’t make it, and the ones that do get pretty clingy, and I mean that in both the literal and figurative senses of the word. You’ve likely seen a number of videos like the one below, where possum babies are hanging onto their mother’s back to help speed travel up.
Not only that, hanging on the mom’s back can also help keep them safer against predators. Granted, hitching a ride doesn’t always stop predators from stealing away a possum baby, but it does up the chances of survival for the group as a whole. Especially if the mother is feisty and not willing to back down like the one in this clip.
Bobcat coming right at you? Trying to circle around you to maximize intimidation? This mother possum says, “No problem.” She stood right up to the big cat, even though she was far outmatched (the babies aren’t helping her numbers wise), and it proved to work wonders in the stand off. No playing possum around here…
Check it out:
