The Natural History Of The Opossum.the Virginia Opossum. The uniqueness of the opossum makes him a valuable member of our wildlife community. He has more teeth (50) than any other American land mammal, and puts them to good use eating cockroaches, moles, crickets, snails, rats, mice, overripe friut, and dead animals of all types. He is more immune to many diseases (including rabies) than your neighbor's dog or cat, and even has a remarkable resistance to poisonous snake bites. Opossum are nocturnal, with a keen sense of hearing and smell. They don't fear water and are good swimmers. They will take up residence practically anywhere, including stumps, haystacks, attics, garages (keep the doors closed!), road culverts, hollow trees, rock piles, and abandoned burrows of other animals. An adult opossum weighs anywhere from 4 - 15 pounds. He has a strong tail for help with climbing and balancing, and for scooping up leaves for nest building, but will rarely actually hang by his tail once he reaches adulthood.
A threatened opossum will try to look very ferocious by growling and showing off its 50 teeth. If that does'nt do the trick, he may drool and blow bubbles out his nose to make the attacker think he's sick and unappetizing. In very hazardous situations, his instincts will take over, slowing down his heart and breathing so that he appears dead, commonly called playing possum, hoping his attacker will lose interest and go away. Once the coast is clear, he will come out of his trance and amble off to resume his, solitary, unassuming lifestyle.
Opossum are marsupials, meaning they care for their undeveloped young within a pouch. They usually have one or two litters a year, the first in Febuary or March. Opossum babies are born thirteen days after a successful mating, and are so small at birth that a litter could fit into a teaspoon!
The young stay in the pouch nursing for about two months. Once the babies have developed some fur and are close to opening their eyes, the mother will allow them out of the pouch to spend some time clinging to her back. As the babies grow older, their mother may temporarily leave them tucked safely in the den while she goes looking for food, returning home after a few hours of foraging so that her babies can crawl back in the pouch and nurse. Offspring may remain with the mother for almost a year.
|
