Homeowner shares photo of uninvited garden guest: 'I'm such a sucker for these cuties'

Growing your own food is a rewarding benefit of starting a garden. You may also find that it attracts curious and hungry wildlife from time to time.  

In r/Opossums, a Reddit user posted a photo of a frequent visitor in their garden. They shared that they often spot a local opossum snacking on the strawberries growing from the plants in their yard.

"I've never gotten to eat a single strawberry off of this plant and I'm ok with that," the original poster said in their post.

Tending to a thriving garden can be a wonderful hobby that provides fresh produce, physical exercise, and great mental health benefits. 

Remember when you're planning out your space to consider the natural wildlife in your area as well. And creating a space they can benefit from too doesn't have to be difficult.

You can make your backyard more welcoming to animals and insects with a garden or by replacing your grass lawn. Eco-friendly options like clover or buffalo grass can work wonders and brighten ecosystems. They can save you time on maintenance and money on water bills and other lawn care expenses.

Rewilding your yard is another option. Once you know what plants are native to your area, you can plant accordingly. Going native encourages biodiversity, supports pollinators, and ultimately helps protect human food supply.

Commenters loved to see that the opossum had a safe place to relax and a reliable food source in the poster's garden. 

"That angel deserves all of the strawberries, " one user commented.

"I'm such a sucker for these cuties I'd buy frozen when they picked all the fresh," another commenter said.

How did your garden turn out this year? Amazing 🤩 Could be better 🙂 Terrible 🤬 I don't have a garden 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"You get to watch a happy opossum eating strawberries [in] your yard, feeling all safe and content – and that's precious," another user commented.

"So kind of you! They have short-lived lives [so] those berries are probably quite a treat for that little guy!" a user commented.

When someone proposed planting even more strawberries next year, the OP replied, "I have some inside of a raised bed with a cage thing on it so I do still get some berries! I've had some luck with planting 'sacrificial crops' around the raised beds for the opossums and the bunnies. … Fighting nature when you live on a wood line is futile haha!"

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