Viral video shows opossum mom struggling to carry all her kids

Boston 25 News

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:

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 Cleveland Cavaliers probably won’t appreciate this comparison:

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!

Animals, Curiosity, Life, Parenting
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About the Author
Emily Hanford-Ostmann
I have a background in newspaper and broadcast news writing. When I'm not informing others about what's happening in town...I enjoy running, a great workout class, and finding my next favorite show on Netflix. I also find great joy in clearance shopping.

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