I saw a possum.
It was awesome.
Remember this adorable video? I recently learned that I’m friends with the opossum rehabber who filmed it, so I want to share this message he wrote. Thank you for your work, Rob!
This was JJ, our first keeper, she lived 3.5 love filled years with us and didn’t become popular on Youtube til after she passed. It went viral for a while bringing in over 20K hits a day before slowing down. At one point Poland was watching it more than any other country..go figure that one out. I had 3 television production companies send me contracts so they could use it on their show. I agreed to all and was compensated. 2 in the US and one in England. I hoped that this video shed light on them as a species, I know that in some of the replies it did, most were very positive, in others it did not and I ended up defending possums and my fingernails with great prejudice toward those folks. Many were banned after a good verbal bitch slapping. So what do you think, I never had any videos get even close to this number and probably never will… hope you enjoy and sorry for any tension……sure I am……ha..
Opossums Could Hold the Key to Saving Snakebite Victims
Scientists pinpoint a compound in the marsupial’s blood that neutralizes venom—could it help in the quest to create a universal antivenom?
by Jason Bittel
Scientists say its blood may be key to fighting the effects of snakebites worldwide.
In lab experiments with mice, a team discovered the exact molecule, called a peptide, in the North American marsupial’s blood that can neutralize snake venom. The peptide worked against several venomous snake species, including America’s western diamond back rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) and India’s Russell viper (Daboia russelii).
“The mice that were given the venom incubated with the peptide never showed any signs [of being sick],” says Claire Komives, a professor of chemical engineering at San Jose State University in California.
Scientists have known since the 1940s that Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) possessed some level of immunity to snake venom, Komives notes. Other mammals, such as ground squirrels and honey badgers, also have natural immunity to venom…
(read more: National Geographic)
photograph by Sebastian Kennerknecht, Minden Pictures/Corbis
