Thread: What kind of animals

The creatures in the cartoon seem to have furry tails. If they do, they are possums.

"Possessing a furry tail, the true possum belongs to the Phalangeridae family within the Marsupialia order and is primarily found in New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia and other islands in the Pacific region. With their signature bare tail, the opossum is North America’s only known marsupial"
Possum and opossum, is one correct? The answer may surprise | The Hot Word | Hot & Trending Words Daily Blog at Dictionary.com

Originally Posted by E-learner

The creatures in the cartoon seem to have furry tails. If they do, they are possums.

"Possessing a furry tail, the true possum belongs to the Phalangeridae family within the Marsupialia order and is primarily found in New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia and other islands in the Pacific region. With their signature bare tail, the opossum is North America’s only known marsupial"

Note that Bambi, the book, was by Austrian writer Felix Salten and presumably took place in a European forest -- but the famous Disney adaptation included New World animals that aren't native to Europe -- including the bare-tailed o/possums seen in the photos above, and the black-and-white striped skunk named "Flowers".

In US English, the forms "opossum" and "possum" are generally interchangeable and either one can be used correctly in reference to the N. American species, which is sometimes known as the Virginia opossum. And, yes, we actually do have quite a lot of them in Virginia where I live, although you can find them throughout the eastern US and Mexico.

PS. Adult possums are extremely good tree-climbers -- trust me, I've seen them near my house! -- but they do NOT hang by their tails (their tails aren't strong enough to hold up the weight of their bodies). However, as seen in Soft Sign's photo, very young possums are able to hang by their tails.

Incidentally, a lot of people say that possums look like big, ugly rats -- but unlike rats and other wild animals, possums are rather harmless to humans because they don't carry diseases like rabies or plague. However, they DO like to eat fruits and flowers -- for which reason gardeners consider them serious pests.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Incidentally, a lot of people say that possums look like big, ugly rats

"Alien rats", even: