This animal is quite smart, in fact, according to some opossum fans, they are smarter than dogs!  Nocturnal by nature, theses marsupials spend most of their days asleep in their nests and there nights out foraging for food.  They are not very large as stated earlier so their defense mechanisms are quite refined.

Probably the most famous of all these defense tactics is playing dead, AKA, "playing possum".  This tactic works quite well and is just as it sounds:  the animal collapses onto its side and pretends to be dead until the would be predator gives up and walks away!  Other strategies include drooling excessively which tricks predators into thinking that the animal is sick, the spraying of an foul smelling anal gland fluid that makes predators leave and displaying what many have coined "alligator mouth" which shows off the animals 50 teeth which would be a scary site for anyone.