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Family: Didelphidae, Opossums
Description House cat size. Grizzled white above; long white hairs cover black-tipped fur below. In some areas, individuals may appear grayish or blackish. Long, naked prehensile tail. Head and throat whitish; ears large, naked, black with pinkish tips. Legs short; first toe of hindfoot opposable (thumb-like) and lacks claw. Female has fur-lined abdominal pouch. L 25–40" ; T 10 1/8–21"; Wt 4– 14 lb.
Breeding After 12–13 day gestation, 1–14 young attach themselves to mother’s nipples for 2 months; 2 or 3 litters per year.
Habitat Deciduous forests, open woods, brushy wastelands, and farmlands. |
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Range Most of e U.S., except n Minnesota, n Michigan, and n New England; extends southwest to e Wyoming, Colorado, and c New Mexico. Also s British Columbia south to Baja California and east into c Idaho; and se Arizona.
Discussion A solitary nocturnal animal, the Virginia Opossum is terrestrial and arboreal, and climbs well. The diet includes carrion, insects, frogs, birds, snakes, small mammals, earthworms, and berries and other fruits; persimmons, apples, and corn are favorite foods. The Virginia Opossum makes a leaf nest in a hollow log, fallen tree, abandoned burrow, or other sheltered place. After a gestation of less than two weeks, the "living embryos," each the size of a navy bean, climb up through the hair of the female and enter the vertical opening of her pouch. Each takes one of her 13 nipples in its mouth and remains thus attached to the mother for two months. Those who do not obtain a nipple perish. When threatened, an individual may roll over, shut its eyes, and allow its tongue to loll, feigning death, or "playing possum," for some time. More often, it tries to bluff its attacker by hissing, screeching, salivating, opening its mouth wide to show all of its 50 teeth, and sometimes excreting a greenish substance. The Virginia Opossum is hunted for its fur, which is not considered particularly valuable but is used for trimming, and for its meat, which many consider a delicacy.
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| Track In mud, hindprint approximately 2" wide, with 5 toes printing: large, thumb-like toe slanted inward or backward, 3 middle toes close together, and remaining toe separate. Foreprint slightly smaller, with 5 toes printing in star-like fashion. Hindprints and foreprints parallel and close together; straddle 4"; walking stride 7".
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