Source (a fascinating read): https://outdoor.wildlifeillinois.org/articles/debunking-the-myth-opossums-dont-eat-ticks
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Just FYI, I got a lot of flak for mentioning this fact in opossum communities on social media sites. No one wants to believe that they aren’t these amazing tick-eating heroes.
I say they are still heroes and prevent a lot of disease and nastiness! They just don’t eat ticks.
If you’re on the US west coast, Western Fence Lizards are your Lyme disease fighting heroes.
https://daily.jstor.org/theres-something-about-lizard-blood/
This is so amazing, my mind is blown!! Gonna share this with everybody. Also that lizard pic as if it’s laughing is perfect😁
My best fence lizard pic. They’re friends!
Too cute! :)
so about lizard blood. do i have to eat the lizard blood or get the lizard blood on me to become immune to limeys
i have a fight with a british man in six hours so it's somewhat urgent
Oh no… it’s been 12 hrs…
You alright?
i mean this is me we're talking about.
Oh, no, that part actually means you need to have lizard ancestry. A common misconception.
fuck. i merely tried injecting ground lizard tail. i, uh, had an interesting few hours.
That could still work. Depends on where you injected it.
The very end of this article states possums are immune to Lyme disease and will pop them like m&ms when attacked... Are possums not the same as opossums?
There are more social media opossum communities than this one?
Where? I must know.
You’ll be disappointed because it’s Facebook groups and Instagram accounts. And they are starting to be overrun with AI images. So I focus on wildlife rescue accounts more since they will just post pics of animals in their care.
Learned this a few years ago and caught shit for trying to spread the truth too. People prefer a happy lie it seems.
I think you may have misjudged the opossum communities. You didn't just expect them to roll over and play dead with this new info, did you?
oh you...
they don't really live in the same environments, so concluding the the opossums ate them all was lazy
Uh yeah they absolutely live in some of the same environments, what are you talking about? They both live in the Midwest US for sure.
well it's definitely situational because in Washington State they don't
Having done very minimal research, yes they do. Just because you don't see them hanging out doesn't mean they're not there. Here's the opossum's range, at least three of these ticks live in the same region.
I've seem more than my fair share of possums here
I read the study a long time ago, it was to do with tick covered opossums. Also, I’ve got both in my yard.
they don't. we have forest preserves with deer and deer ticks and possums. I mean I would call that the same environment. coyotes and racoons and such to.
I say they are still heroes for being awesome marsupials living in North America. Not very many of those! It also doesn’t hurt that they’re super cute and rather comical in their expressions! I also don’t mind that people seem to be afraid of them, even though I know they’re harmless.
Us humans in our warm and cozy houses and apartments forget how brutal the elements of nature can be. All that rain and snow and tempestuous wind; all that humidity and blistering heat. Nature remains a very difficult place to survive in, even when you’re an awesome marsupial well-adapted to the local conditions. Climate change, logging, construction and encroachment into habitats; we humans put even more pressure on our four-legged friends!