{"id":36440,"date":"2026-09-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=36440"},"modified":"2026-09-07T08:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T12:36:45","slug":"a-florida-opossum-looked-aggressive-in-a-soccer-net-but-rescuers-soon-realized-she-was-protecting-her-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/a-florida-opossum-looked-aggressive-in-a-soccer-net-but-rescuers-soon-realized-she-was-protecting-her-babies\/36440\/","title":{"rendered":"A Florida opossum looked aggressive in a soccer net, but rescuers soon realized she was protecting her babies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At a school in Florida, a teacher found a mother opossum<\/a> that was trapped in a soccer net. At the beginning, the animal seemed quite aggressive, but Cat Clifford, as rescuer (she works with Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge), could understand that this was actually because she was super worried about her babies that were pressed against her body; she was not attacking, she was defending her joeys. And that is how a morning at this school turned into an urgent wildlife rescue<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A soccer net becomes a wildlife trap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That day, the teacher actually acted pretty well. As soon as she saw her in the school fields, she called Clifford immediately. When she arrived, the mother was extremely scared and completely trapped, holding all of her babies while she fought to protect them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was not clear was the number of babies she had. For example, The Dodo reported that there were eleven joeys, while the title of Clifford\u2019s original Facebook video talks about nine of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mother was defending more than herself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning, Clifford did not understand why the mother was being so aggressive, or actually showing an \u201cattacking\u201d attitude. But then, when she saw the babies, she could see that the animal did not have the option to leave and abandon them. Being trapped and having the babies there, probably made her collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clifford also was very clever, because she had enough patience to make the animal feel and understand that she did not want to harm her at all. And as that happened, the mother started to relax and let her free from the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patience kept the family together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The rescued opossum and her joeys rest inside a carrier box on the way to a health check. Credit: Cat Clifford, via The Dodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wild animals are wild animals\u2026 It is very difficult for them to understand that a person is there to help them. If a trapped animal<\/a> sees that the rescuer is rushing to save it, the animal will see that as an attack and it will get stressed to the point where it can make the situation worse. That is why the rescuer needs to take care, pay attention to the animals attitude, and at the same time protect themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: A Florida opossum looked aggressive in a soccer net, but rescuers soon realized she was protecting her babies<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Once Clifford could free them, she took them to the Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge, where the vets checked them completely and confirmed that their health was okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opossum mothers carry a moving nursery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is interesting is what was learned about the species. Back To Nature explains that a female opossum can carry and nurse up to 13 young in her pouch for more or less three months. After that, she can carry them on her back for 1 or 3 months until they are able to start moving out of the den.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opossums are marsupials, and people tend to misunderstand their ways of defending themselves. This species is said to be quite solitary, but when they feel that they are cornered, they can show you their teeth or enter an involuntary shock state called \u201cplaying possum\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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