Many people enjoy
going out into the wilderness to get closer to
Mother Nature. They find the peaceful time in
the wilderness to be a great escape from the
everyday troubles of life and love the
opportunity to spend some time out amongst the
trees, bushes, and wildlife that surrounds them.
Most of the animals that you may come in contact
with pose no real risk to you, but there are
times where that is not the case. Even the
animal that may seem quite tame or friendly to
you, can pose a risk to your health. This is
true of animals such as the possum.
Most of us know this animal as the creature
whose primary defense is to lay down and play
dead if it feels endangered. If you come across
a possum the normal response for this animal is
to do one of two things. First, it will try to
run away. Second, if it feels it cannot get away
that it will rollover and pretend to be dead.
Either way, it’s normal reaction is to do
something to get you to leave.
However, there are instances where a possum may
turn on you and attack you directly. This
usually occurs because these animals are sick or
wounded in some way, and so their normal
instincts have been set aside because of the
trauma that they are under. This can lead them
to bite or scratch you.
If you are bitten by a possum then you need to
know that you need medical attention right away.
If one of these animals has avoided its normal
instincts and has come directly after you to
bite you, and you can be sure that there is
something seriously wrong with it. This means
that it passed its pathogen on to you which can
be dangerous to you as well.
Possums not only carry a large number of
illnesses and parasites that can be dangerous to
human beings, but these animals also carry
rabies, which is life-threatening if not treated
right away. People die from rabies if not
treated, and the mortality rate is 100%.
Even if the animal is not sick, it does not mean
that it cannot pass and illness on to you. What
this tells you is that you need to get emergency
medical help right away.
If you are in the wilderness, then your first
reaction should be to not panic. Don’t allow
your blood flow and your heart rate to increase
so that the illness spreads faster. If you can
safely sit down, then do so.
Contact your local emergency medical crew and
have them come out to your location to get you.
The best thing you can do is to be as still as
possible, and a long walk back to your home to
find your car and drive to the hospital is not a
good option. If that is your only choice that is
slowly and carefully walk until you reach your
car, and get to the hospital as quickly as
possible.
Read more:
Opossum
Control,
How
to Get Rid of Opossums,
Opossum
Feces.
