Do opossums live in groups/ are they good for the environment?

Generally do opossims live in groups or by themselves? and are they useful to humans or the environment, and how? any other opossum information is welcolme as well.Do opossums live in groups/ are they good for the environment?
They only live in groups when it is a mother and babies.They serve the environment by scavenging and cleaning up natures waste.Do opossums live in groups/ are they good for the environment?
They live independently from each other.


They are beneficial to humans. They eat garden snails, bugs, young rats and mice, stuff like that.


When I moved into my present home, I soon came to the conclusion that we had opossums, because I never saw a snail. It was a while before I ever saw an opossum, though.


They do not carry diseases that humans, dogs or cats can catch, as their body temperature is too low for those diseases.


Opossums have the teeth of a carnivore, like a dog, and like a dog they will eat a big variety of things. They have coarse light gray fur, a long hairless tail, and a pointed face like a mouse, so they do look rather like a giant rat, but with ruffly ears like a guinea pig. Of course they are more like kangaroos than rats; they are marsupials, and carry their babies (called joeys) in their pouches.


Opossums are known for ';playing possum.'; Actually, when startled, they can go into a kind of seizure. Often a predator will not harm them in this state, because they think it's dead and don't want to eat carrion.


I've seen this a couple of times, when my dogs scared the opossums. The first time, I thought it was dead. Looking closer, I saw it was breathing. As I got even closer, it began to pull its lips back in a bizarre grin, as if poisoned by strychnine. As I moved away, it showed more signs of life and looked less dead. I left it there. 2 hours later I checked; it had moved, but when it saw me, it collapsed! This went on for a long time, I kept checking on it, and each time I did, it fainted again. In the morning, it was gone.


They can bite if cornered; I knew a woman whose dog, when she let it out to pee at night, would rush out barking, and come back with opossum bites. She had to start using a leash. .


You might be annoyed to have an opossum living in the attic. They will like to eat your pet's food and maybe some of yours, if they can get it.