Opossums do not make a conscious decision to play dead when confronted by a predator, but instead enter a completely involuntary, stress-induced comatose state that they have absolutely zero control over.

A closer look

Opossums do not make a conscious decision to play dead when confronted by a predator, but instead enter a completely involuntary, stress-induced comatose state that they have absolutely zero control over. When terrified, their brain chemistry effectively short-circuits, causing their bodies to go rigid, their breathing to slow down drastically, and their anal glands to secrete a foul-smelling green fluid that mimics the scent of a rotting corpse. This extreme physiological response can last anywhere from forty minutes to four hours, and the opossum cannot be woken up by prodding, poking, or moving it until its nervous system decides the threat has passed. While it works surprisingly well at deterring predators who prefer fresh meat, aggressively passing out and aggressively voiding your bowels in sheer terror is arguably the least heroic defense mechanism ever devised by the animal kingdom