WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:03.319 Oh, it's the smell of the tent that you haven't 2 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:05.240 used in two years, and it's got a little bit 3 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:08.519 of mildew with but it's comforting Ali Ward and back 4 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.599 with an episode of Ologies. I don't even want to 5 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.679 intro I don't want to even be talking right now. 6 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:14.599 I just want you to hear the interview. I want 7 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.280 you to hear all about the majesty of the world's 8 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:22.359 most beloved rat faced trash goblin cottlebugs who lug around 9 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:26.839 skin sex full of infants. So here's the briefest of introductions. Okay. 10 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.440 Theologists got their PhD studying members of the genus Didelphus, 11 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:38.840 most specifically the Virginia possum opossum, north America's only native marsupial, 12 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:42.640 the only one in North America. They got their bachelors 13 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:46.000 in biology from Boden College, a master's and a PhD 14 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:49.679 from the University of Michigan. They're also studying stem education 15 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.520 and how college professors can make learning easier during a 16 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:58.479 freaking pandemic. They're so passionate about psychom and education and 17 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:02.200 possums or possums. We get into it, but first we're 18 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.799 gonna thank everyone at patreon dot com slash ologies for 19 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:08.159 submitting such intensely perfect questions for this episode and for 20 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:11.400 supporting the podcast since before we were even a podcast. 21 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:14.799 Thanks to everyone who leaves reviews and rates the show, 22 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:20.079 like this squirming Hairless Pink review just days old, left 23 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:23.079 by Swinging Pro, who wrote in this podcast is just 24 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:26.560 a bunch of dorks getting stupidly excited about learning, and 25 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.439 I love it so much. Oh swing Pro, you had 26 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:31.000 me there for a sec, but you're one of us. 27 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:31.840 We love you back. 28 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.040 If you left her review this week, I read it 29 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.480 straight up, so thank you. And congrats to Brandy Blonde 30 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:40.239 and Tiger twenty forty for your science student journeys. I 31 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:43.280 read those. Okay, let's put some fuzzy munchkins in your hearts. 32 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:46.120 Let's get into it. I heard of this ologious work 33 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:50.319 this past Friday. I DMed her the all caps message, 34 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:53.200 will you talk to me about possums? What is your schedule? 35 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:53.359 Like? 36 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.040 I'm excited, Doctor Walsh. Shameless begging and a quick response. 37 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:00.879 We chatted just this past Saturday morning all about this 38 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:05.680 not at all rodent creature and their general vibe dramatic 39 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:10.240 death throws from tails to teeth to tiny hands and 40 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:16.199 numbered nipples, orphaned babies, pet possibilities, the best possum chokes, 41 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:21.360 the worst ones, rabies, tick, vacuums, myths, flim flam, the 42 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:24.960 rise of the memes, and more with nationally recognized mimmologist, 43 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:32.919 biology educator, environmental scientist, researcher, and acclaimed opossmologist doctor Lisa Walsh. 44 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:54.919 Oh let's do it, doctor Walsh. 45 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:55.560 Can you hear me? 46 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:56.400 Yes? 47 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:56.919 I can? 48 00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:57.560 Yes? 49 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.400 Oh my gosh, so excited to talk about possums. You 50 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:04.759 have no idea. Maybe you do have an idea because 51 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:07.919 you're as scientist, so everyone's excited to talk possums. But 52 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:11.479 I'm very excited. That's great. I had dreams all night 53 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:13.599 about this podcast, and I was that I had so 54 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:16.280 many questions from listeners that I couldn't sort through them. 55 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.560 All, which oh oh wow, Well, I mean dreams all night. 56 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:20.599 That fits with a nocturnal animal. 57 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:22.159 I already love her. 58 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:22.680 Oh. 59 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:24.719 First thing I'll have you too, is if you could 60 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:27.280 say your first and last name in your pronouns. 61 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:31.599 Sure, I am Lisa Walsh. Pronouns she her hers perfect? 62 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:36.080 And okay, help me figure out what ology this is? 63 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:40.840 Would it be de Dell Main morphology. No, possibly. 64 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:45.159 I guess it depends on how scientific you want it 65 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:48.000 to be, and like how narrow do you want it 66 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:54.280 to be, because it could be like metatherology for all marsupials, 67 00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:01.479 didelpha morphology, or this morning, my husband suggested apossmology, and 68 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:03.639 I think that that rolls off the tongue better than 69 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:08.599 the more scientific, the more scientific names. 70 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:10.919 You know. I did look around and I did see 71 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:18.360 that more people were using possmology than Didell for morepheology, 72 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.560 So it might be that. But the first question is 73 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.319 oh possum versus possum least set the record straight or 74 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:26.319 so confused? 75 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:33.680 I know. I don't know if Americans decided that using 76 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:38.920 the o sounded hokey or you know, back when there 77 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:42.480 was more anti Irish sentiment, they just didn't want they 78 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:47.879 didn't want to say, oh, possum. But it comes from 79 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:52.800 an American Indian Algonquin word a passem, where it means 80 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:58.040 white animal. And John Smith, being the colonizer that he was, 81 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:04.040 just decided to steal the name and anglicize it. And 82 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:08.480 this was actually the first marsupial that Europeans had encountered. 83 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:13.399 I've read that the Spanish actually came across in a 84 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:16.279 possum with Christopher Columbus and they brought it back to 85 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.920 Spain and they're like, oh my gosh, she's carrying her 86 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:26.040 young in the pouch. And eventually the British stole the 87 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:30.759 name from the American Indians and called it opossum. And 88 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.120 then when another group of colonizers came across more marsupials 89 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:42.040 in Australia, they said, well, these look very similar, they 90 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.279 have similar traits, they also live in trees. Let's call 91 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.240 them by the same name. And at some point they 92 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:52.079 decided we are going to confuse people, so let's call 93 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:55.160 them possum instead of opossum. But I think that ended 94 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:56.439 up confusing people more. 95 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:02.720 Okay, that makes so much sense. And how did marsupials 96 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:04.480 get to North America. 97 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:09.959 They have a very long and confusing evolutionary history. They've 98 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.720 been popping up all over. That's because they've been around 99 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:16.759 for over two hundred million years. 100 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:21.279 Woh my god, yeah, two hundred million years. 101 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:24.399 So you know this goes back to how well do 102 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:27.920 you know your continents and the history of continents, So 103 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:36.160 Pangaea to Laurasia and Gondwana. And I am not a paleontologist. 104 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:40.439 So I'm not great at it, but I don't know 105 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:42.920 if I should be admitting that. But we we actually 106 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:48.160 think that they evolved and emerged first in land that 107 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:53.560 was to become North America in Europe, and at some 108 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:58.040 point North America and South America were together, and the 109 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:01.319 group that would survive made it to South America. The 110 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.439 group once the continents separated that were in North America 111 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:11.040 and Europe died out, and the South American group wandered 112 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:16.360 through what's to become Antarctica, made it to Australasia and 113 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:22.000 really just exploded. They did great there. The ones that 114 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:27.319 were stuck in South America, they were okay, there's a 115 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:31.120 few groups that are there. But then about two million 116 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:35.720 years ago, the two American continents came back together and 117 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.120 there was a land bridge, and so that's how they 118 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:42.040 made it into North America. But it's funny you read 119 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:48.120 the history of this American interchange. They call it where 120 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:52.079 a bunch of different groups of North American animals went south. 121 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:57.399 South American animals went north. So Armadilla went north, great 122 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:02.120 Slots went north, and the possum was like, you know, 123 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.199 I'm just gonna wait, I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna wait. 124 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:07.800 So we don't think they were one of the last 125 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.839 animals to arrive in North America actually during that interchange. 126 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:16.160 So they were just taking their their sweet time. Oh, 127 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:18.560 which you know, I can appreciate. 128 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:22.000 It's what they do, right. They're not very fast critters 129 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:24.000 from what I understand. 130 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:25.639 They're not. But man, when they want a book it 131 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.920 they can. You do not expect them to move fast. 132 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:33.000 So when they do it, maybe it seems a lot 133 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:36.240 faster than it is. I've seen a manateee book it 134 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:41.200 same thing. You're like, really, yeah, you're supposed to be slow, 135 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.159 so when they move fast, it's still relative. But it's 136 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.240 just so surprising. 137 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:49.399 I needed footage of this, and I needed it bad 138 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:53.799 so down the apostlem hole, I merrily fell watching videos 139 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:58.919 of these ash colored fuzz loaves just loping about sports 140 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:04.879 fields and trail cams. Look, what is that strange animal 141 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.720 running across the lawn? Why? It's an opossum. And yes, 142 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:13.080 they can scurry with the best of them, topping out 143 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:16.240 at four miles an hour, which you think sounds slow, 144 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:19.559 but that's a fifteen minute mile and Michael Phelps can 145 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:23.080 only swim six miles per hour. Manatees, when they want 146 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.240 to get the fuck away from you, they can jet 147 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.759 twenty miles an hour. That's more than three times faster 148 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:32.279 than an Olympic gold medalist. So next time you get 149 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:35.799 on the freeway you hit twenty mph, just think of 150 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:40.919 amanate drag racing you and winning a giant underwater yam 151 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:44.039 with a beaver tail, leaving you in the dust. 152 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:47.559 But you're like, oh my gosh, that was actually really. 153 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:52.480 Fast, And now what about you and your evolution and migration? 154 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:58.039 How did you come to be a very in my mind, 155 00:09:58.120 --> 00:09:59.960 celebrated opossum recon. 156 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:04.879 I started my undergraduate career convinced I was going to 157 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:09.559 be a marine biologist, and I was doing research on 158 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:17.440 this single celled organism, a dinoflagelet that lives symbiotically inside coral. 159 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:23.559 The problem is they have not one but two cell walls, 160 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.360 and so if you're trying to do anything in terms 161 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:31.279 of genetics, just to get at the DNA, it took 162 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:34.879 me about two months to figure out how to shear 163 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.039 open their cell walls and get at their DNA. And 164 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:43.200 I was just so frustrated sitting in the lab looking 165 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:48.240 at the Cayagen DN easy kit. That's what it's called. 166 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:50.960 It's called d N Easy. I was like, this is 167 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:54.480 anything but easy. I was reading the manual and they said, 168 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:59.320 you know you want this many grams if it's a mousetail, 169 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:03.080 you want this many grams. If it's mouth blood, I 170 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:05.399 guess it would be leaders, this many miller leaders if 171 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.759 it's mouth blood. And I was just like, mice, mammals, 172 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:15.519 those sound so much easier to ask questions about, first 173 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.159 of all, because you can see them. So the dinoflagelet, 174 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:21.720 we didn't even know how they reproduced. So I was like, 175 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:26.799 I can make a bunch of guesses, but if you 176 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:30.320 don't even know the natural history, you can't. I guess 177 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:32.600 I couldn't ask the questions I wanted to at the time. 178 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:38.360 So I found a wonderful advisor at the University of Michigan, 179 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:42.240 Priscilla Tucker. She works on mice. I was like, oh, mice, great. 180 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.960 She said, well, what do you want to research? I said, well, 181 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.840 I really want to just ask questions about. I guess 182 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:52.440 in my mind, I was like, oh, beavers, they went 183 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:58.480 through this huge population die off because we were hunting 184 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.080 them too much. I guess trapping them too much. 185 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.840 So her advisor, Doctor Tucker, said, you gotta talk to 186 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.240 this mimmalogist Phil Myers. Oh, he's got all the steamy, 187 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:11.200 hot goss on just a bunch of critters that are 188 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:12.320 not microscopic. 189 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:15.320 And he said, you know, the opossum is doing some 190 00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:19.960 weird stuff. It is. It's just keep it keeps trekking 191 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:24.360 further and further north. And we don't know genetically what 192 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.559 that range expansion north looks like. And so I said, okay, 193 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:32.639 I will look at that for my master's which translates 194 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:36.480 into collecting a bunch of roadkill over an entire summer. 195 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:38.360 I love this woman. 196 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.320 Because I so I tried trapping a possums, which is 197 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.120 how I know how fast they are because the only 198 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:50.240 the only possum I managed to trap just he was 199 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:55.519 a little guy. He had probably just left mom uh, 200 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:58.480 and he just booked it as soon as he got 201 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.879 out of the trap. He was like the fastest little 202 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:09.440 apossum torpedo you've ever seen. And I mostly caught raccoons 203 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:10.080 and I was. 204 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:12.039 Like, oh my gosh, it's so funny to think of 205 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:12.639 by catch. 206 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:16.720 Yeah, oh, it was mostly bycatch. I was terrified of 207 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:21.039 catching as skunk. I luckily never did, and I said, 208 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.000 you know, I don't think I'm not going to get 209 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:27.039 enough of a sample of a possums if I'm just 210 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:29.559 doing this, And I said, you know, you know it's 211 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:34.320 easy to get roadkill. So I drove around Ohio and 212 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:37.279 Michigan all that summer picking up roadkill. 213 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.120 Did you pick up the whole meat pancake or did 214 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:41.879 you just take a vial of what you needed? 215 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:45.159 So there are people who do that, and I have 216 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:50.240 done that, but I was mostly just looking for their ears. 217 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:56.039 It's really nice, fleshy and it's easy to get as 218 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.559 long as a scavenger hasn't run off with the skull 219 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:04.240 and they've done that, they will take the entire head. 220 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:08.799 And so if there was no head, I would try 221 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:14.200 digging up other stuff. But luckily I was not taking 222 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:18.159 the whole thing. My car would have been very fragrant 223 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:18.919 if I had. 224 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.679 Yeah, did you ever get stopped or questioned at all 225 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.399 while you were snipping ears off of roadkill? 226 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:32.039 That's a great question. I noticed this interesting dynamic, which 227 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:34.720 I think I would do the same if I saw 228 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:38.759 a strange woman parking her car and walking to this 229 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:42.480 dead thing. Women would just stand inside their house and 230 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.919 watch me mm hmm, like okay, I'm going to monitor her, 231 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:50.600 make sure she's not do anything on my property. But 232 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.879 the men would stop behind me, stop their car, say 233 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:57.840 are you okay? Can I get you anything? And I 234 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:02.840 was like, I'm wearing a fluorescent vest with bright blue 235 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.120 lab gloves. I'm good at. My favorite story is there 236 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:12.120 was this man who had clearly just finished his workday 237 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.960 at a garage, so he was full in a mechanic suit, 238 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.919 and I think he was like, oh my gosh, it 239 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.639 is a woman in distress. I have been waiting for this. 240 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.480 And he's like, can I help you? And I was 241 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:32.360 like I and this possum was literally on the double 242 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:35.519 yellow line. It was smack in the middle of the road. 243 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:37.120 It was oh good. 244 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:40.960 It was a slow country road, and I was just like, 245 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:44.919 I know. He offered to like carry it, and I 246 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.399 was like, I'm trying to scrape it off the road 247 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:52.600 so that I'm not sampling it in the road. I 248 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.279 don't want to become double roadkill, which was the really 249 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:59.720 interesting thing driving around. So if you start looking for roadkill, 250 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:02.559 you will find it. And there were a lot of 251 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:06.320 double road kills with possums because they actually I mean 252 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.559 as scavengers, they will go eat the roadkill. So I 253 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:15.799 found a possums with porcupines up in northern Michigan, and 254 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:19.559 I found them multiple times with raccoons, which is really 255 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.840 a who's eating who questions? 256 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:25.879 Yes, that was my next question is who? Yeah, I 257 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:30.120 mean at least they died doing what they loved, but yeah, 258 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:32.799 who was scavenging who? That's a great question. That's like 259 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:35.720 anyone out there needs to get a PhD in roadkill. 260 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:39.559 Just an aside, I do have a future episode lined 261 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:42.360 up about RhoD ecology and I will ask this very 262 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:46.159 important question. Also, what did doctor Walsh find from all 263 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:50.840 the sampling? Why are these sweet backyard beasts lumbering toward 264 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.600 the northern territories? What she says, the first thing you 265 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.480 do with population genetics is try to figure out how 266 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.039 many populations are there and who belongs to which we 267 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:05.160 are the western Great Lakes there were two distinct opossum populations, 268 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.960 a lower Michigan and Ohio posse and a Wisconsin an 269 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:13.119 Upper Michigan one which I'm sorry, Upper Michigan. How are 270 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:16.960 you not your own state? You're a disembodied land mass 271 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:19.960 who skirted in as Michigan's plus one. I'm always confused 272 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:24.079 by you, but you're beautiful anyway. Some interesting crossovers in 273 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:24.880 these two groups. 274 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.920 But why And when I spoke to a fur trapper 275 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.279 in I believe he was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 276 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.039 he said, you know, a little while ago, we had 277 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.279 a really bad drought and we had to have hay 278 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:44.839 bales brought in from elsewhere in Michigan, and apossums will 279 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:48.720 occasionally den in I guess loose hay bales, and he 280 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.000 thought that they they got transferred from one part of 281 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.200 Michigan to another. 282 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:55.400 Because of this. So that's a good theory if. 283 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.920 You search for it online. I believe there is a 284 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.480 picture of an apossum stuck in a. 285 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:02.880 I would let them sleep in my linen closet. I 286 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:06.880 love them so much. They're so cute, they're so wonderful. 287 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:08.839 They would really like your linen closet. 288 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.799 I feel like they would love it, and so they 289 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:14.559 will sometimes hitch rides. 290 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:19.440 Perhaps, yeah, sometimes hitch rids. What I looked at then 291 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.319 was you can look at how diverse the populations are 292 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.480 using the genetics collected, and I compared it to winter 293 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:32.799 climate data across the region I had sampled, and I 294 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:38.400 also compared it to human density, so basically a measurement 295 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:42.519 of how urban the area was and agricultural density, so 296 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:47.400 how much farmland, how many farms were around. Older, bigger 297 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:52.200 populations will be more diverse. And what I found by 298 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:58.200 proxy is that the older populations were where there was 299 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.319 less days of snow on the ground. So it wasn't 300 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.400 actually about temperature, it was about days of snow on 301 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.759 the ground. So if you didn't know, Noah has that data, 302 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:10.960 I did not know that until I set out to 303 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:11.759 ask this question. 304 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.440 Just a side note, So NOAH is the National Oceanic 305 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:19.279 and Atmospheric Administration. It is not some rando named Noah. 306 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:22.599 Although curiosity never really fails to get the better of me. 307 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:25.839 And yes, I did go on LinkedIn to type in 308 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:29.039 Noah plus Noah in the search bar, and there are 309 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.000 so many Noah's working at Noah and that pleases me anyway. 310 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:37.039 Possums don't like ground snow? Why such divas. 311 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:39.400 Just like you or I, They wouldn't want to go 312 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:44.440 walking outside in deep snow because essentially their paws are 313 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:48.839 like our feet, so we I'm sure there are some 314 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:50.599 people out there who do that. But I would not 315 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:53.119 want to walk barefoot on the snow. 316 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:57.759 Their paws are so cute and pink and fleshy. And actually, 317 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:02.000 let's start with the pink adoor. Yes, what Okay, they 318 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:06.240 got a long snowt and one million teeth? Is that correct? Scientifically? 319 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:11.240 They do have fifty teeth. Yeah, so they have a 320 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.480 lot of teeth. So some people say that they have 321 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.880 the most teeth in the mammal kingdom. That is, that 322 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.359 is not true. There are others out there. I believe 323 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:26.119 there's some armadillos aren't there with more teeth. I did 324 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.279 the research a while ago, and then I forgot it. 325 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.839 She is correct. There are seventy four teeth in the 326 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:35.599 mouth of the giant armadillo, the most of any mammal. 327 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:39.400 But what about the animal with the most teeth on earth? 328 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:46.319 A terrifying array exists of jagged shredding mouth knives numbering 329 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:50.440 twenty five thousand. Who's got them? Who's got all those teeth? 330 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:51.400 Snails? 331 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.400 Just snails which are commonly eaten by apossums acting as 332 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:00.359 your garden bouncer. And yes, apossums have fifty teeth, which 333 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:03.680 is still roughly fifty percent more than are thirty two. 334 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:06.799 Yeah, they have a lot of teeth. The teeth allow 335 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:12.160 them to eat whatever they want. Opossums really need a 336 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:15.960 lot of calcium, and so the teeth help them with 337 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:20.160 breaking down little mice, boons, bird bones so that they 338 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:22.119 can get all the calcium that they need. 339 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.480 Why do they need so much calcium? Is it to 340 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:27.759 make more teeth? It might be. 341 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:31.039 I don't know if we know the why. We do 342 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:33.559 know what happens if they don't get enough calcium. So 343 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:38.240 it hasn't been scientifically reported for wild apossums, but for 344 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:43.200 some orphan depossums, if they're brought into this rehab center 345 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:46.119 and they aren't fit a diet high enough in calcium, 346 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.640 they develop metabolic bone disease, which is kind of like 347 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:54.000 rickets for a possums, and then they become non releasable. 348 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:57.759 There's a really cute story, it's cute and sad at 349 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:00.920 the same time from a wild life read rehab center 350 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:06.039 where there was an orphan apossum and he loved grapes 351 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:08.839 so much so as a generalist, they would they would 352 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:11.920 be given basically a buffet to eat each day, but 353 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.559 he would prioritize eating all the grapes, and then he 354 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:18.640 wouldn't be eating enough protein when he was when he 355 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:22.240 was little, and so he did end up developing metabolic 356 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:25.599 bone disease. So I just I think it's so funny 357 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:29.599 that he loved grapes so much that he ate himself sick. Oh, 358 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.440 but he was great, So he was deemed non releasable, 359 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:39.319 and Steve theopassum became an education opossum. So that's all. 360 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.200 I guess that's the that's the one silver lining if 361 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.240 they do develop opossum rickets Steve was the. 362 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:49.079 Best freaking Steve. What kind of sense of smell do 363 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:50.920 they have? What kind of eyesight do they have? Walk 364 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:53.880 me through anatomy for anyone who has not gotten to 365 00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:55.920 be close to an apossum. 366 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.759 Yeah, their eyesight is not good. It's probably a big 367 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.519 reason and why a lot of people who have encountered 368 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.319 opossums they say the possum didn't really react to me, 369 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.559 or they have a story about their dog running after 370 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.480 the apossum and the apossum not being able to respond 371 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:18.599 quick enough. So yeah, I mean, I've I saw an 372 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.799 old grizzled guy just walking through my parents' backyard a 373 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.759 few summers ago, and he just did not see me 374 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.319 at all. But they have a really really good sense 375 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:29.799 of smell. 376 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:35.680 Oh that's helpful probably for finding roadkill and eggs and bones. 377 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:39.000 Right, Yeah, they'll eat pretty much everything. 378 00:23:39.319 --> 00:23:42.559 I know that they've been lauded as I think, as 379 00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:46.359 you've said, tick vacuums. How many ticks do they really eat? 380 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:50.960 There was a recent publication out where they looked at 381 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:56.000 the stomach contents of wild apossums and they did not 382 00:23:56.119 --> 00:24:01.519 come across ticks. And so what that suggests is this 383 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:06.960 older publication where they put larval ticks on captive apossums 384 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:10.680 and saw how many had a full blood meal and 385 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:15.640 fill off the apossum. They said, that's not necessarily the 386 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:19.480 best way to determine how many ticks and apossum eats. So, 387 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.720 considering they eat everything, and that the researchers with the 388 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:27.640 captive apossums did find evidence of ticks in the feces, 389 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:31.680 they do eat ticks. They're not going out of their 390 00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:35.440 way to eat ticks like Steve went out of his 391 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:38.599 way to eat grapes, at least at least right now, 392 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:42.920 there's no evidence of that. Okay, But I mean, there's 393 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:47.839 so many great questions remaining on apossums that I'm hoping 394 00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:51.000 there is a future grad student out there who's going 395 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:55.279 to really figure out exactly what impact apossums will have 396 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:59.200 on tics and lime disease. So I think that's that's 397 00:24:59.240 --> 00:25:02.839 the next great research question with the possums. 398 00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:05.200 I'm about to quit my life and just go back 399 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.440 to school to study them. So who knows, maybe me. 400 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:14.240 Do other species of opossums have the cute, tiny little 401 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:15.640