I recently learned that opossums can carry a parasite that can cause serious injury to horses. When looking into it, I also discovered opossums might not eat nearly as many ticks as previously thought. My heart sank reading all this. I previously viewed opossums as a kind of superhero animal, cleaning up the bad stuff that can cause disease without spreading disease themselves. What I realized is that I had been putting too much moral judgment on them.

The truth is, no animal species is good or bad. They are all just trying their best to survive in the circumstances they find themselves in. All animals deserve our respect regardless of how they relate to us humans.

That is not to say we should ignore how animals relate to us in terms of causing harm or benefit to humans, but we shouldn’t judge them for it. We may at times have to get rid of pests in our homes; we can still have respect for the species. It’s not necessary or helpful to view them as malicious. Likewise, even beloved domestic species like cats and dogs are still animals. They don’t exist for humans, even if we bred them with that intention. From a human perspective they cause both benefit and harm.

It does all animals a disservice to judge them as good or bad instead of just a part of nature. I felt disappointed the the opossum wasn’t the superhero I imagined it to be, but that’s on me, not the opossum. We can love and appreciate them without putting them on a pedestal.