Super cute Mexican mouse opossum
This creature is cute beyond my ability to cope ... I feel that I must boop it’s nose, whatever the cost, lest the order of the universe tip out of its natural balance.
The Opossum is known in Yucatec Maya as Ooch and is able to withstand up to 80 rattlesnake or coral snake bites. Thanks to this marsupial, there is the anti-pill (antidote against venomous snake bites). Opossums have a serum protein in their blood that neutralizes snake venom, meaning that bites from poisonous snakes have no effect on the marsupials.
We have 7 species of Opossums in Belize - 2 of them are Mouse Opossums: Mexican Mouse Opossum and Alston's Mouse Opossum. They are rarely seen - nocturnal, small, secretive and quiet.
Photographs by Ken Thompson in Burrell Boom
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