Baby Opossum

Unlike what most people think, we think opossums are kind of cute. Especially when they're still little! The word opossum comes from algonquian wapathemwa meaning "white dog".

This one stole our hearts immediately. Its not common to see opossums out during the day, but we watched this one scrounge around our yard for several weeks. This is unfortunately a sad tale. We never did see the mother, but found the remains of a sibling one morning; the result, we're guessing, of a bird of prey attack. Sadly, this little one only survived for several weeks more. Mother nature can be hard to bear witness to sometimes.

Night time is Quiet Time...

...except for opossums! Forgive the quality of the picture, but night photography is not my camera's strength (or maybe it's not my strength). I caught this opossum watching me from the fence top as I emptied the trash. I only noticed him because his white face was illuminated by my garage light.

Seeing these creatures around our house makes me happy. Several years ago, I trapped and had a possum relocated who'd been staying in our backyard under the gazebo. Only after the "offending" creature was forcibly evicted did I bother to look up and learn about these interesting animals. Come to find out, these neighbors provide some very beneficial services.

Didelphis virginiana, or the opossum as it's commonly called, is the only marsupial found in the United States. About the size of a large cat, opossums are mostly nocturnal. Their threatening appearance (they have 50 teeth!) is mostly just for show. When an opossum is faced with a more powerful opponent, they usually play dead, hence the phrase, "playing possum".

Opossums are omnivorous and adventitious hunters, eating things like slugs, snails, insects (like cockroaches, blech!), carrion, fruits and grains and supposedly even rats.

Opossums don't have a strong family bond. Males and females do not stay together to raise the young, and the young become independent fairly quickly. Some of this might be due to the fact that opossums don't have a very long life span.

Learn more about the opossum by visiting Animal Diversity Web or googling them on the Web.