this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
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Today I Learned

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[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

I just shared some stuff on this tick business today, including some analysis of the erroneous study that started the whole misconception.

Opossums are still awesome, they just aren't tick munchers.

[–] Nima@leminal.space 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

went ahead and just deleted my original comment. i got 3 people commenting about it so I'll just say I think they're neat.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I hope you didn't take it personally! 😮

I just want people to be informed. My story and moreso the linked article I added talks about some of the issues that even positive seeming misinformation can lead to.

[–] Nima@leminal.space 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

all good. i got 3 comments all at once so I just figured it was for the best.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Heck, even I didn't know it was false until I found the post! I'm surprised I saw a couple others mention it. The rumor is really widespread.

We feed ours dried mealworms as part of their diet, so I just assumed they eat whatever bugs.

[–] Nima@leminal.space 3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

i now know that they don't eat many ticks, I was just excited cause I love opposums and I think they get a fairly bad reputation for being "vermin".

i didn't realize an article about them not eating ticks was posted today. i don't think I'm on the instance that shared that.

i guess that's why all the comments focused on the ticks thing.

i just think they're neat.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

Their poo is out of this world stinky, but otherwise they are very awesome.

I was trying to stick them in a bucket to clean their pen, but they kept grabbing on to the lip with their tails. It was hilarious. I like watching them climb also. They look like they should be bad at it, but they're pretty good.

Awesome critters and no reason anyone should dislike them!