As I approached this thicket of bamboo, I saw a creature run for cover into the brush – so I followed it.
The Virginia Opossum is the only marsupial (pouched mammal) found in North America. It quickly ascended a tree. They are active at night (this was the first wild one I’ve ever seen in the daytime) and they do not hibernate in winter.
These animals are most famous for “playing possum.” When threatened by a dog, fox, or bobcat, an opossum will sometimes flop onto its side and lie on the ground with its eyes closed or staring fixedly into space. It will extend its tongue and generally appear to be dead.
An adult Virginia Opossum is about the same size as a house cat, but with much shorter legs. These animals have long, pointed noses, round, hairless ears and a chunky body. Opossums are excellent tree climbers and spend much of their time aloft. They are aided in this by sharp claws, which dig into bark, and by a long semi-prehensile (gripping) tail.
They are considered a primitive mammal have a small brain and many teeth (about 50). The Virginia Opossums is are one the shortest-lived mammals for their size – they rarely live longer than 18 months.
Opossums eat insects, snails, rodents, berries, over-ripe fruit, grasses, leaves, and carrion; occasionally they will eat birds, snakes, eggs, corn or other vegetables.
At birth the young opossums are tiny; they are so small that 20 could fit into a teaspoon. Each one crawls to its mother’s pouch. After two months, the young are ready to leave the pouch for increasing lengths of time. They follow their mother on her food-gathering trips, occasionally riding on her back. After another month, the young are independent.
The opossum has been around for at least 70 million years and is one of Earth’s oldest surviving mammals. Despite a rapidly changing world, it manages to survive in modern times. Not only is it surviving, but this “old school” animal’s range has been expanding steadily northward into Canada.