Page 1 - The Shores of Jupiter - August '24

Our Village Voice

VOL. 35 NO. 8 www.seabreezepublications.com AUGUST 2024

Northern Notes

Awesome Opossums! Opossums, as omnivores, play a crucial role in the They are nearly impervious to rabies because their body
ecosystem. They consume plants, insects and small temperature is too low to host the rabies virus. If you see an
By Katie Roundtree, animals, and are known to scavenge for food in trash opossum who’s hissing, drooling or swaying, don’t panic and
Director of Finance and cans, earning them the nickname “nature’s garbage man.” assume they’re rabid! Opossums use these bluff behaviors
Administration Their scavenging habits make them excellent cleanup and play dead to outsmart potential predators.
Northern Palm Beach crews, helping to keep the Contrary to popular belief,
County Improvement environment free of waste. opossums aren’t staging a
District One of the most dramatic play of their
Virginia Opossums, signi fi ca nt rol es of own demise. Instead, they
the animal native to opossums in the ecosystem enter a state called “tonic
North America and, more is their ability to control immobility,” which is a
specifically, Florida, is a pests and diseases. Their physiological response to
misunderstood and one of unique superpower is the extreme stress. An opossum playing dead will typically lie
nature’s more fascinating ability to eat ticks, which on its side with its eyes closed. Its breathing will get shallow
animals. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world and can spread Lyme disease. Opossums can consume and may even appear to stop completely. While they don’t
North America’s only marsupial. A female opossum gives thousands of ticks each week, assisting to limit the spread spray like skunks, opossums smell when they play dead.
birth to tiny, underdeveloped young opossums, who will grow of the disease. Their immunity to Lyme disease and their Sometimes, the opossum will loll its tongue and drool, even
up in the mother’s pouch for 8 role as opportunistic scavengers that eat cockroaches, excreting waste to exaggerate its catatonic-like state. These
to 10 weeks. Once the young crickets, beetles, slugs, snails, snakes and many others, signs will usually convince a predator that the opossum is
emerge from the pouch, the make them an invaluable part of the natural world. dead, and it will lose interest.
offspring will remain with Another remarkable trait of opossums is their immunity It’s important to note that the opossum and the possum are
the mother, sometimes riding to various toxins and venoms. They are resistant to not the same animal. In North and South America, the animal
on her back, for another six honeybee stings, scorpions, botulism toxin and even is referred to as an opossum, while in Australia and other
weeks. This earns her one snake venom. In fact, they have partial or total immunity countries, it is called a possum. In North America, an opossum
of her nicknames, “nature’s to the venom of pit vipers like rattlesnakes, copperheads is a white and gray marsupial of the order Didelphimorphia.
minivan.” Once weaned and ready to forage on their own, and water moccasins. This unique immunity, known to The word “opossum” was derived from its equivalent in
the mother will shake any remaining offspring off her back scientists since the 1940s, is being studied for potential Powhatan, a language spoken by the Virginia Algonquian
and move on to another area, leaving the young to continue medical applications, such as the development of a low-
on their own. cost rattlesnake antivenom. Northern Notes on page 2
Commissioner’s Update

Making Dollars And Cents Of taxable value of $351,123
($376,123 for school district
Your Tax Bill items) and the millage rate of
4.5, you will be paying $4.5 per
By Vice Mayor Maria G. $1,000, totaling $1,580.05.
Marino With our example, there
It’s that time of year are 13 taxing districts under
when the Board of County ad valorem taxes for this
Commissioners begins the homesteaded property in
budgeting process for Fiscal Palm Beach Gardens. Each
Year (FY) 2025 and sets the district sets its own millage
millage rate for Palm Beach rate, and properties in
County. The current county different areas of the county
millage rate is 4.5, which will have a varying number of
represents the amount of districts depending on whether
tax payable per dollar of the they are in a municipality or
assessed value of a property. A mill is derived from the Latin unincorporated areas. Some
word “millesimum,” meaning thousandth. In property tax areas, such as Jupiter or Juno,
terms, 1 mill equals $1 in property tax levied per $1,000 of may have an additional line
a property’s assessed value. item for fire/rescue services
To further understand your tax bill, you can visit the because those services are
property appraiser’s website at https://pbcpao.gov/index. provided by the county instead
htm. By clicking on the tax link (property tax detail), you will of the municipality.
see a detailed breakdown of the taxes collected from various
districts that provide services to residents. For instance, using Commissioner’s Update
the example on the right of a homesteaded house with the on page 3

REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY IMMEDIATELY

TO THE JUPITER POLICE DEPARTMENT
(561) 799-4445

Use 911 for emergencies only. Lock car doors.
Do not leave valuables in the car.