Nick Rodgers, who lives on 5 acres of farmland in rural Minnesota, is used to seeing animals around his house. Princess, a stray cat with brilliant orange hair that visits him from time to time, has become one of his favorites over the years.
“She wanders between farms and everyone knows who she is,” Rodgers explained to The Dodo. “It’s not uncommon for Princess to appear after dinner, so we’ll feed her.”
However, Princess paid a visit earlier this month and brought along an odd dinner guest: an opossum.
The opossum strolled up onto the porch and began eating the bowl of food that was left out, just like Princess. Fortunately, Princess had already finished her own dinner, so the skinny-tailed animal was free to eat anything he wanted.
Princess, of course, appeared as if she wanted another meal — but all parties were polite.
This isn’t the first time the cat and the neighborhood opossums have hung out.
“There’s a possum family nearby, and I’ve even seen Princess play with the little ones in the yard,” Rodgers explained. “They’ll be chasing each other around.” They might have grew up together.”
Although Rodgers was taken aback when he first saw Princess with the opossums, he quickly recognized that they had learned to cohabit happily.
“When I first saw them, they would get nose-to-nose for a bit, then Princess would take off and Possum would try to keep up,” Rodgers explained. “This carried on for a while.” I sat back and watched the spectacle since none of them posed as if they were ready to fight.”
Rodgers thinks that by showing Princess how kind the opossums are, he may help to dispel the species’ poor reputation — and encourages others not to chase them away if they’re sighted in the woods.
One popular misunderstanding regarding opossums is that they are rabies carriers; nevertheless, they are extremely resistant to the illness.
“Possums are extremely misunderstood,” Rodgers says. “They’re not aggressive; they’re simply interested.” They also consume a large number of ticks and bugs. I feel like they’re as much a part of my circle as Princess is.”
Link to Paws Daily