New Study Says Possums Don’t Like Eating Ticks

Popular opinion has it that opossums are tick-destroying machines—but that might not be the case

BY KEN PERROTTE | UPDATED JAN 5, 2022 1:08 PM


Opossums have come to be seen as something of a savior species when it comes to eradicating ticks. From websites to publications to social media, the idea that opossums help save humans from tick-borne ailments is all over the place.

“One of the best things about [opossums] though, they eat ticks…which helps cut back on Lyme Disease in the environment,” according to a video on pbs.org. Or, “opossums act like little vacuum cleaners when it comes to ticks—with a single opossum hoovering up and killing an estimated 5,000 ticks in a season,” says the National Wildlife Federation.

The claims are pretty impressive, but are they true?

According to Dr. Bret Collier, associate professor of wildlife ecology at Louisiana State University’s School of Renewable Natural Resources, “No, not at all, period. Ticks are not, in any manner, selected for by Virginia opossums.” He cites a 2021 peer-reviewed paper called “Are Virginia opossums really ecological traps for ticks? Groundtruthing laboratory operations,” by Dr. Cecilia Hennessy and Kaitlyn Hild of Eureka College’s Division of Science and Mathematics.

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