Place Your Vote: Cute or Ugly?

One day last week, I arrived home from work to find a Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) feeding on black-oil sunflower seeds under the tree in our front yard from which we hang several bird feeders. We have since seen our new guest on several occasions munching on seeds under the feeders in our backyard, and taking shelter under the stairs behind our house.


Although the Virginia Opossum has more teeth (50) than any other Indiana mammal, members of the species are not generally aggressive. When frightened, opossums often involuntarily act like they are dead, leading to the colloquial phrase "playing 'possum;" however, they will also often hiss or growl and show off their sharp teeth. Opossums will eat nearly anything and are considered omnivorous scavengers. The species is found in Central and North America east of the Rocky Mountains, but has also been introduced along the West Coast of the United States. This is the only marsupial in North America north of the Rio Grande River. As such, newborn opossums live in their mother's pouch for one to three months before they become too large and need to migrate from the pouch to their mother's back.


This leads to my survey question... what do you think? Is the opossum cute or ugly? Personally, I think they are very cute (just look at that face!), but Lindsay disagrees. Please help us settle our debate.

Sources:
http://www.opossum.org/facts.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Opossum
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/5686.htm