You may have heard dialogues in movies like ‘playing possum’, meaning pretending to lie low or be asleep. It is, in reality, a trick opossums use in real life to protect themselves from predators.

Aren’t they smart? People often dismissed them as a hissing nuisance, but they were creatures rich with surprising abilities. Beneath that unassuming exterior lies a survival with excellent adaptability skills.

Opossum has earned the title of North America’s only marsupial because of its immunity to certain toxins to their dramatic act of ‘playing possum’.

Resistance to venom

• Unlike most mammals, opossums possess a unique mutation in their nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
• These mutations make them immune to neurotoxins’ paralyzing effects, so they survive against venomous predators.
• Their resilience extends beyond snakes. They can handle the sting of bees and scorpions.
• Their body temperature is low [around 90 to 94 degrees Fahrenheit], so they cannot contract rabies.
• They even prey on venomous creatures with minimal risk because of their toxin-resistance superpower.

Playing possum act

They are nocturnal animals, and they turn into a con artist at any time. They mimic death as a last-ditch effort to convince predators they are no longer viable targets.

• When threatened, they enter in an immobile state, complete with a stiff body and foaming at the mouth.
• Their body emits a foul odour, which enhances the illusion further.
• This dramatic act fools predators into believing they have encountered a decayed or diseased animal, so they move away without attacking.

Skilled climbers

Sometimes their appearance seems clumsy, but their prehensile tails, hairless and almost rat-like, act as an extra limb.

They grip branches with their tails and navigate through trees with surprising agility. This skill is resourceful in helping them forage for food in the forest canopy.

Natures clean-up crew

Opossums have 50 teeth, which allows them to consume a wide variety of food.

• Fruits
• Insects
• Carrion
• Small vertebrates

This adaptability level has made them strive successfully across various habitats ranging from dense forests to urban backyards.

Remarkable fertility & child-rearing

• A female opossum can give birth to a small size of 25 joeys at a time.
• These tiny newborns are blind and hairless.
• They must instinctively crawl into their mother’s pouch and attach themselves to one of her 13 nipples.
• Competition is fierce, and the luckiest or strongest survive. This harsh reality ensures that only a handful of joeys reach maturity.
• The incredible feat of the underdeveloped creatures embarking from the birth canal to their mother’s pouch is a marvel. Guided by instinct and a strong sense of smell, they climb onto their mother’s fur and follow the scent trail she leaves to reach the pouch.
• Once they are safely nestled in the pouch, the joeys stay attached to her nipples for around two months.
• They grow fur and develop sight.
• As they get strong and mature, they venture out of the pouch for some time.
• If the mother feels threatened, she transports her entire litter by holding each in her mouth by tail. This is a surprisingly graceful move for such an ungainly creature.

The opossum is a creature full of surprises. Next time you see them, appreciate this underestimated animal for its unique adaptation skills to survive in a challenging world.

With a plump and small body, the French Pug seems to be a muscular and compact. The height at the withers is about 30 cm and they weigh between 8 and 14 kilos. However, a characteristic that distinguishes this breed are the upright bat ears, the angular head, as well as the short snout and tail. The coat is smooth and without sub-layer and according to official standards the coat can have different shades. Thus, we find French Bulldogs with shades ranging from black to white, passing through the fawn and brindle with or without white spots.

French bulldog: A Recent Breed with Ancient Roots

The Frenchie Dog belongs to the family of molossos dogs. This family also includes the Pug, the Dogue de Bordeaux or French Mastiff and the English Mastiff. Dogue type dogs are the ancestors of this breed. However, the development of the French bulldog breed only started in the second half of the 19th century. And so it can be said that this is a very recent breed. Furthermore, experts are not in agreement about the breeds that gave rise to the French bulldog. One of the direct ancestors of this breed is thought to be the little English bulldog that English weavers took with them when traveling to Normandy.

The English bulldog was created for dog fights, as well as for fighting bulls. In fact, the origin of his name is related to this practice bull means bull in English. After the prohibition of this terrible practice, the breeding of all dog breeds changed. From then on, these burly big eyes became primarily pet animals.

French bulldog: A Popular Breed

It is considered that the French Bulldog were initially crossed with Terriers. These crossings will have been carried out by hunters, but for a short period of time. Crossings with Pug dogs will also have happened. In 1880 the first French bulldog club was created in Paris. However, when some specimens of French Bulldogs were brought to the United Kingdom, they were classified as English Bulldogs, as there were no standards that could define the French breed. French bulldog standards were established in 1888. The recognized patriarch of the breed is the famous male Loupi, who is mentioned in almost every book on the genealogy of this breed.

It was mainly in Paris that this breed received special attention. The French bulldog became very popular with dog lovers who had no means of purchasing dogs of more expensive breeds. However, the unusual appearance and the friendliness of the French Bulldogs won the European nobility.