John Clayton
One of the oldest,
ugliest, orneriest, oddest creatures in North America is the opossum. Looking
like a giant rat, eating virtually anything, and having been around since
the times of the dinosaurs, this odd creature seems to be an anomaly in
everything from its birth to the spelling of its name. The opossum is the
only American marsupial mammal. That means the babies are born a few weeks
after conception, crawl into the mother's pouch, and stay there until they
are ready to go out on their own. Opossums can climb trees, burrow, withstand
heat or cold, and are immune to rattlesnake venom. In their natural world,
they are virtually indestructible with a high birth rate and a huge bag
of tricks to discourage their enemies.
Playing possum is
the trick most people know about, but it is not really a trick. The opossum
has a very small brain and does not think out a fake death routine.
Tests have shown that, when sufficiently traumatized, the opossum goes
into shock where its body systems shut down so effectively that it appears
to be dead. This is an involuntary reaction designed and programmed into
its behavioral traits. We would suggest that this design speaks eloquently
of a designer that gave this ugly duckling a beautiful defense system to
survive in a hostile world. He may be ugly, but this seemingly smiling
rodent has a lot going for it.
This article taken from: Does God Exist?, Mar/Apr 97
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