The Cutest Opossum On Tumblr Is A Dead One

This is why we have trust issues.

Opossums don't have the best rep, so in order to change the people's minds, I set out on a quest to find some cute-ass opossums, like this one:

Tim Harman / Getty Images

Eventually, my search led me to this Tumblr post with over 400K notes, featuring what has to be the cutest opossum ever.

This was it. This had to be it. The opossum to rule all other opossums. The opossum that would change the minds of even the most cold-hearted opossum-haters. I mean, JUST LOOK AT IT:

meddlingwithnature.com

But I was blindsided. We all were.

Hoping to find the owner/picture taker of the opossum when clicking on "Source," I instead was brought to a taxidermy website.

Italian Spiderman / Via youtube.com

Which kinda makes sense because why would an opossum be smiling, holding a flower, and then allow someone to get so close to capture the perfect photo?

The opossum's photos were there, along with this holiday-themed one.

Meddling with Nature / Via meddlingwithnature.com

Does the fact that it's a taxidermy make it less cute? Maybe a little. Either way, the people of Tumblr deserve to know the truth.

Meddling with Nature / Thinkstock

The good news is that there are other cute, living opossums out there. Like these. Look at them and everything will be OK.