The photo I am submitting to the Friendlymoose Photo Contest, dedicated to Animals, in which I am participating for the first time, is of an animal that in my country, Venezuela, we commonly call rabipelado because of its characteristic long, hairless tail, which helps it climb.
It is better known as a possum. It is a marsupial and has the peculiarity of having a pouch where they are raised during their first days and then carried on its back, where they have to hold on very tightly because there are many of them, and I have read that if one falls, it is almost impossible for the mother to recover it. Things of nature, as a veterinarian friend would say, are the survival of the fittest.
On one occasion, my daughter, who is a rescuer, brought home a baby opossum that she found dead on the side of the road. She tried to take it to the zoo, but they wouldn't accept it. So she brought it home. Keeping it alive was a challenge in terms of feeding it, but after searching the internet, we learned that in addition to insects, we could feed it fruit, including mangoes, so that's what we did.
It loved to climb on top of us and on our heads. Later, we learned that this contact was not good for it, and to my daughter's and my sadness, it died a few days later, and we didn't know why.
I like to see them free in the neighborhood where my sisters live in the city of Caracas.
It is a place that used to be the floodplain of the river, which is now channeled. I have seen them there frequently, and last week when I was visiting, I saw this ragged one in the window of an apartment and took the opportunity to photograph it. It remained calm, although from time to time it opened its mouth and showed me its teeth. I imagine he was a little scared, but he didn't run away.
Although I took the photo during the day with my Samsung A15 phone, there was plenty of light because it was in the afternoon. These animals are primarily nocturnal. I was surprised to see it there.
There is a campaign to raise awareness among people who attack and kill them for no reason. They have the right to be in the places where they have always been, only the environment has changed.
The campaign highlights that they are harmless animals that feed on rats, mice, and even snakes, so people see them as useful, respect them, and leave them alone. I hope, for the sake of these beautiful and amazing animals, that more people become aware of their value as living beings.
Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed it.
The translation into English was done by eb www.deepl.com