Tiny Orphaned Possum Uses His Tail As A Pacifier

Missy Dubuisson, founder of Wild At Heart Rescue, was finishing up feeding one of the baby possums in her care when the cutest thing happened. The tiny possum started sucking his tail like a pacifier. 

“As with any baby, they pacify,” Dubuisson told The Dodo. “So this baby found his tail.”

When she saw the baby possum’s adorable habit, she took a quick video on her phone. “In between tube feeds, this is how you will find him,” Dubuisson wrote on Facebook. “The level of precious in this video is beyond any comprehension.”

When the baby and his six brothers and sisters first came to Dubuisson, each one weighed less than a quarter. The tiny, pink animals were helpless without their mom, but Dubuisson knew that with a little care they could grow up strong. 

“The babies are born the size of a bean and make their way to the pouch where they continue to grow,” Dubuisson said. “These babies were just a few weeks old.”

To keep the babies warm and cozy, the rescue mimics the mom’s pouch with an incubator. As the babies grow and become more active, they are moved to outdoor enclosures where they can get used to the weather and practice climbing and making nests.

Dubuisson believes every possum is worth saving and is trying to educate the community on the benefits of having these hardworking marsupials around. Possums rarely carry rabies and will eat anything they come across, including venomous snakes and up to 5,000 ticks a season.

“Possums are very misunderstood,” Dubuisson said. “[They] are responsible for reducing ticks that cause the Lyme disease and do awesome snake patrol and carrion cleanup. These possums are much needed in our environment.”

Once the little possums are ready to be released, Dubuisson will reach out to her followers to see who would like snake patrol on their property.

The rehabbed possum will then be set free in a wooded area where he can live the long and happy life he deserves.