The opossum, commonly referred to as “possum”, is a marsupial mammal found in the Americas. It’s the only marsupial found north of Mexico. The common opossum, or the virginia opossum (which are actually different species that are found in sympatry) is about the size of a household cat, measuring around 76 centimeters (2.5 feet) and measuring four to six kilograms (8.8 to 13.2 pounds). The tail accounts for about half of their length. The opossum's eyes, feet, ears, and the last third of its tail are black. Their top layer of fur (which is longer than their bottom layer) is grey or white. You’ll find an opossum in open or urban areas, as long as water is near. They spend a lot of their time aloft and they’re decent swimmers. No matter where they are, they like to spend their time in holes or burrows, which are often created by other animals.
Diet
The opossum isn’t a very picky animal when it comes to food. They are known to take frequent trips to the garbage to scavenge for food. They are omnivores, and will eat almost anything from nuts, grass, fruit, chickens, mice, earthworms, and snakes, as they are immune to pit viper venom. They are helpful creatures to the environment because they can eat 5,000 ticks per year, helping protect humans from disease. They are sometimes called natural sanitation engineers because they often eat carrion. Opossums are nocturnal creatures that spend most of their time hunting for food at night. They have good hearing, eyesight, and smell (aided by their long snouts) to help them find prey.
Interesting Features
One interesting feature of the opossum is their difference in behavior in summer versus winter. The opossum isn’t a true hibernator, but it does slow down during the winter in a nest lined with leaves. The opossum also has a prehensile (gripping) tail which aids it in climbing trees. In addition, like all marsupials, they have opposable thumb-like toes on their front and back legs. Perhaps the most famous behavior of the opossum is their ability to “play dead”. They do this to avoid predation from foxes, bobcats, and dogs. When threatened, the first thing an opossum will do is hiss, growl, and show its teeth. If fully attacked, the opossum will go into an involuntary catatonic state where they fall on their backs, stick out their tongues, sometimes secrete a foul smell from their anuses, and look blankly at space (sometimes their eyes will be closed). This state can last for six hours. Opossums are usually docile creatures, and they rarely get into encounters with humans.
Reproduction
Mating occurs from December to August, with some populations in hot climates producing two litters per year and some populations producing one in colder climates. The male has a forked penis, which has led to the misconception that the female will sneeze her babies into her pouch, and the misconception that the pair will mate through the female’s nose. In reality, mating between opossums is similar to the mating of other mammals. The male, or the jack, will leave and never come back after mating. The gestation after that is only about 12 to 13 days, at which point the female, or the jill, will give birth. The joeys, who are the size of a honeybee, immediately crawl into the mother’s pouch. She will give birth to around 20 babies, but she has only 13 teats, and any baby that doesn’t get one, will die. In general, less than half of the litter will survive. The babies will stay in the pouch and develop for around 50 days. Then, they will come in and out, and oftentimes ride on their mother’s back until they reach 100 days old. The babies will mature sexually at six to eight months and live for around one to two years.
