Viral video shows opossum mom struggling to carry all her kids
A viral video of an opossum mom carrying all of her kids on her back will make human moms very thankful for strollers — and carpooling. But for opossums, this is what motherhood looks like.
Adam Wafi shared the video with Boston 25 News. The opossum mom was struggling down an East Boston sidewalk with seven babies, called joeys, on her back. The mom keeps up a good pace, but she has to slow down every few seconds to take a breather. We don’t blame her — it looks like hard work.
Watch the adorable and very relatable video below:
Female opossums give birth to as many as 20 babies at one time. Joeys are the size of jelly beans when they’re born. At first they crawl into the mom’s pouch, where they stay to develop. Once they’re a little older, the mom carries her entire clan on her back everywhere she goes.
The joeys stay with their mom for about 100 days. Dad takes off after mating, leaving mom to carry the kids around all by herself.
According to World Wildlife Day, the habit is basically nature’s version of a minivan:
This is how the possum moms carrying their babies. The nature's minivan! #AmazingWildlife #wildlife pic.twitter.com/aaSujV72Os
— World Wildlife Day (@WildlifeDay) June 1, 2018
If you’re not a mom you might still relate to this opossum’s. One Twitter user described the opossum mom above as the person who pays for Netflix — and the joeys as everyone using your username and password:
The person who pays for Netflix + everyone else who watches it https://t.co/vt4gOWO7sk
— Gabbi (@Gabs_McFabs) June 6, 2018
The Cleveland Cavaliers probably won’t appreciate this comparison:
Our favorite picture of LeBron James from Game 4: pic.twitter.com/4hIb8w5fro
— WCPO 9 (@WCPO) June 9, 2018
There’s one thing we know for sure: Moms everywhere carry a lot of weight on their shoulders and are rarely caught complaining about it. Thank you, moms!