The fascinating exhibition of playing possum - appearing to faint, have a glazed stare, offering an eerie grimace with wet drool. If that strategy isn’t successful, dying does - or at least appearing dead. When encountering a threat, the normally introverted opossum will hiss and bare all of those 50 teeth, the most of any of our mammals. Opossum life span is two years they are preyed on by foxes, dogs, snakes, coyotes, raccoons, and bobcats - and of course, vehicles. Opossums are solitary animals, except when females are raising their young, and by three to four months old disperse on their own. As she brings the family with her to find food, the young begin to learn survival skills. Once in the pouch, the newborns latch on to a teat which swells in their mouth to keep them attached for eight to 10 weeks.Īs the young opossums outgrow the pouch, they climb onto their mother’s backs grasping her fur for a ride along. The pouch has 12 teats 11 arranged in a circle with one in the middle, not all of which are functional especially in young females, so mortality can be with large litters. It’s all in the bag…what is that pouch all about?įrom the birth canal, the hairless newborns which are barely beyond fetuses, ‘swim’ through their mother’s thick fur to the pouch following a wet path created by the mom licking her fur. Young are born not fully developed, no larger than a dime, and are called joeys like their distant more well-known relative, the kangaroo. Litters average from eight to 10 young but can be as large as 20. Opossums don’t build their own dens but find convenient homes in piles of woody vegetation, old abandoned animal holes, and tree cavities, or near human activity - under decks, sheds and slabs.įemales become reproductive in their first year and generally have two litters, one in winter and one in spring with an occasional third litter. The ears and tails of opossums are hairless and often subject to frostbites since opossums do not hibernate and are active in winter. Guard hair function is fourfold: thermoregulation, waterproofing, camouflage, and sensory perception.

They have a thick undercoat and white guard hair. Opossums are covered in white rough fur with grey to black tips. Males are larger than females and their size is often compared to an average house cat. Adults weigh between six and 15 pounds and are 24 to 33 inches in length including the tail. But Virginia Opossums ( Didelphus virginiana) are members of the marsupial family Didelphidae. With that long furless pointy tail, opossums are often mistaken as members of the rodent family. And tell me, what other animal has a footprint that is a star? But opossums are really misunderstood nature warriors. North America’s only native marsupial gets little respect and often scares homeowners who stumble upon this nocturnal visitor snacking below the birdfeeder, rummaging through unsealed garbage cans, or pacing in the window well waiting to be set free.

Vacuous dark eyes, scaly rat tail, 50 pointy teeth, and oh, that hiss! What is not to love about the opossum?

Opossum skat