Instead of biting, they simply stop, drop and “play possum,” losing consciousness for up to four hours. “To complete the illusion,” MacDonald says, “they exude a smell like rotting meat.

Opossums don’t dig their own dens but live in existing burrows or in spaces underneath your home, porch, or shed, says Mengak. You may see the animal leaving its den, or you may smell a foul ...

From opossums to caterpillars ... Scientists think the caterpillars do this because wasps are attracted to the smell of their droppings, and hurling their feces sends the buzzing bandits on ...