There’s now even more proof that opossums should be gorgeous in the eyes of tick despisers, of which our region is overloaded – both tick- and despiser-wise.

To be sure, possums host faces so unappealing that they drop over and play dead if they accidentally glance their own reflection. Still, these long-faced American marsupials are the greatest tick eaters in North America, even outdoing imported tickatarians, like Guinea fowl.