It seems like in the past year or two we've been hearing a lot about how possums eat incredible amounts of ticks every day. Now I find this on the internet and I can't tell if it's real or not. What do you folks think, do possums eat tens of thousands of ticks every day and do they even set up grooming stations where they take ticks from other critters?
Below is the caption and pic I found
Possum pulling ticks off a deer's face. Tick infestations are serious in the dry months and have even killed young ones. Possums love to eat ticks. This trail cam photo shows how nature in balance works.
No, I didn’t think they actively feed on ticks. I believe possums groom themselves, and in that process , they remove ticks from their fur and ingest them. I think this has gotten twisted around into a notion that they’re actively feeding on ticks.
Possums are just Guinea chickens with fur! > That first link was from the National Wildlife Federation, It is about as credible as you can find, I never heard it before either but we learn new things all the time.
Birds eat ticks, and look for them, possums are just getting a meal, at grooming time. Sold a lot of guineas to people, for tick control. Not much demand for possums.
They are also good "watchdogs". Daughter has two and they sure raise a ruckus when someone shows up. We have also watched them pick ticks off of the goats.
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