The Virginia opossum is one of more than 70 opossum species in America. It has adapted to the presence of people, and its varied diet now includes food scraps from trash cans. The Virginia opossum carries its numerous young in a rear opening pouch. About the size of a cat, it has coarse bushy fur, a long snout, and large, bare gray ears. This opossum also has an extra long prehensile tail with which it can grip branches when scrambling about in the trees.
Habits: The Virginia opossum occupies a
home range of about one tenth of a square mile, usually in wooded country
and near a stream. It spends most of its time on the ground, but it may
climb a tree in an emergency or when searching for food. The opossums hands
and feet have five digits each. Its hind feet are adapted for climbing,
with the big toe positioned like a human thumb. The animals long, naked
tail is prehensile (capable of grasping), and the young opossum uses it
to hang from a branch.
A night creature, the Virginia opossum sleeps
by day in a nest of dead leaves that is inside a hollow tree, under dead
brush, or in an abandoned burrow. To collect leaves for its nest, the opossum
picks them up in its mouth, passes them back between its front legs, and
tucks them between its belly and its tail, which it folds up under its
body. During very cold weather the opossum saves energy by lowering its
temperature and entering a torpor (inactive state). It does not hibernate
completely but lives off reserves of body fat stored during the fall.
Food and Feeding: The Virginia opossum is a versatile feeder, eating insects, fruit, eggs, rotten meat, small mammals, and garbage scraps. At times it raids poultry runs. The opossum tends to eat plants in late fall and winter, when other sources of food become scarce. Although its senses of sight and smell are only average, the Virginia opossum has excellent hearing, which it uses when searching for live prey.
Breeding: The female opossums gestation
lasts 12 to 13 days, and, like other marsupials, she gives birth to tiny
embryos. Born in quick succession, the poorly developed young immediately
struggle up through the mothers fur toward the pouch that opens to the
rear. As each baby opossum reaches the pouch, it grasps a nipple in its
mouth, and it does not let go for the next 10 weeks. Most females have
13 nipples, so if there are more than 13 babies, those who do not act fast
will die.
After 10 weeks in the pouch, the young move to
the nest, where they sleep huddled together. By then they are the size
of small rats, and their mother carries them all on her back when she goes
out foraging. The young are weaned soon after, and by 14 weeks they are
fully independent. The female breeds before her first birthday and may
have three litters a year. The life span of the Virginia opossum is rarely
longer than two years.
Special Adaptations: The term “playing possum” comes from the opossums ability to play dead. When faced with a predator, the opossum hisses and squirts a foul-smelling liquid. But if seized by a predator, the opossum goes limp, with its eyes shut and tongue lolling out. When the attacker loses interest and leaves, the opossum recovers fully. Scientists do not know how the opossum manages this trick. Some say that chemicals released into the brain cause a temporary coma, but recordings of brain activity show that while feigning death the opossum is actually in a highly alert state.
Key Facts: Sizes, Breeding, Lifestyle, and
Related Species:
Sizes:
Length: Head and body, 15-20 in.
Weight: 9-13 lb.
Breeding:
Sexual maturity: Female, before 1 year.
Male, later
Mating: Summer in the United States; throughout
the year in the tropics
Gestation: 12-13 days
No. of Young: Usually 6-9
Lifestyle:
Habit: Active at night
Diet: Widely varied, including insects,
meat, eggs, plants, and small mammals
Related Species: There are more than 70
opossum species in the Americas, including the mourn opossum, Marmosa murine,
and the water opossum, or yapok, Chironectes minimus.
Distribution: Found in the United States,
east of the Rocky Mountains. Also occurs in Mexico and Central America.
Introduced and now thriving on the Pacific coast from San Diego to British
Columbia.
Conservation: Although it is hunted by
humans, the Virginia opossum is in no danger of extinction.
Features of the Virginia Opossum:
Fur: Coarse. May be black or brown in southern
parts of its range; gray or white in northern parts.
Tail: Naked and almost as long as the body.
Black near the body, otherwise pale. It is prehensile (capable of grasping),
and the opossum can curl it around a branch and hang upside down.
Hind feet: Four digits and a “thumb” to
aid grip on branches.
Ears: Paper thin and hairless. Opossum
has excellent hearing.
Facial fur: Always white, regardless of
body color.
Playing Dead: If threatened, the opossum
may fake death by going limp, with eyes shut and tongue lolling.
Did You Know:
A female may give birth to as many as 25 young
in just five minutes.
Newborn Virginia opossums are so tiny that 24
of them would fit into a teaspoon.
Some Virginia opossums live so far north that
they lose part of their tail and ears to frostbite.
A closed pouch may contain up to six percent
carbon dioxide.
Opossum meat is a delicacy in the South
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