Thank your mom for posting it (and don’t worry about people who think it’s fake – for some reason, some folks who post here can be a bit cynical…)

For proof, I have attached a picture of me and my adorable blond adopted child, Scraps (touch the thumbnail to enlarge.)

The cats and one dog I’ve had over the years have been pals with these critters and my neighbours here (Eugene, OR) have similar stories. One of my friends in middle-school had one as a pet – what a character, the possum was too.  He had a starling that talked and liked to ride on the possum’s back. Both the starling and possum were rescue animals that were brought to a non-profit animal shelter and his family were volunteers with this shelter. 

Possums are not native to the west coast. They were brought here as pets in the 1930′s, many by Forest Service employees. 

The reason why people think they are stupid is they sometimes get hit by cars in the morning as they scurry home – they are more used to the dark and dusk. They also are more likely to practice cannibalism than other critters. 

BTW – they cannot get rabies – something about their body temperature and the rabies virus not evolving to infect marsupials. 

I live in an urban area in the Pacific Northwest, and feed outside cats. Raccoons and possums come by to check for cat food all the time. I’ve never seen any that didn’t bolt the moment I came outside, though. It’s pretty wild how that fox and that bald eagle stay put, even with a human in close proximity.