The Virginia opossum, the only marsupial found north of Mexico, is a familiar sight in North American urban and suburban landscapes. This nocturnal animal is an opportunistic scavenger drawn to areas where human activity provides easy meals. Opossums often forage through human refuse, bringing them into contact with food waste, including discarded poultry bones. Determining if these adaptable scavengers can safely consume chicken bones, especially cooked ones, requires understanding their biology and the specific hazards involved.
The Opossum’s Highly Adaptable Diet
The Virginia opossum is a textbook omnivore, meaning its diet naturally includes a vast array of both plant and animal matter. This flexibility is a primary reason the species has successfully expanded across diverse environments. Their natural foraging includes insects, snails, slugs, earthworms, small rodents, and carrion.
Opossums are suited to consuming items requiring high calcium, often eating the skeletal remains of smaller animals they find. Plant materials, such as fruits, berries, grains, and nuts, also form a significant portion of their diet, especially during late summer and autumn. This broad feeding strategy leads them to routinely explore human-generated food sources like compost piles and garbage containers.
In suburban settings, opossums frequently supplement their diet with pet food left outdoors, fallen fruit, and household scraps found in accessible trash cans. Their keen sense of smell guides them efficiently to these readily available calorie sources under the cover of night. While scavenging is a biological advantage, it exposes them to food items that pose severe health risks.
The Specific Dangers of Cooked Poultry Bones
While opossums can process the soft, small bones of prey or fresh carrion, cooked chicken bones present a serious mechanical danger. Heat fundamentally changes the structural integrity of the bone by removing moisture and fat, causing the material to become brittle and hard.
When an opossum attempts to swallow a cooked bone, it shatters easily into small, needle-sharp fragments instead of crushing. These sharp shards risk lacerating the delicate tissues lining the digestive system, from the mouth and esophagus down to the intestinal tract.
A puncture of the intestinal wall can lead to peritonitis, where bacteria leak into the abdominal cavity, causing massive infection and sepsis. Furthermore, large bone fragments can clump together, creating a blockage or impaction that prevents the normal passage of food and waste. The thin, hollow nature of bird bones makes them more prone to dangerous splintering than denser bones.
Raw poultry bones are softer and more flexible, making them less likely to splinter into hazardous pieces. However, raw bones still carry risks of choking or bacterial contamination, such as Salmonella or E. coli. Intentional feeding of any poultry bones to wildlife is strongly discouraged, as the opossum’s scavenging drive overrides any instinct to avoid the danger.
Preventing Access and Safe Feeding Options
The most effective way to prevent the consumption of hazardous materials is to manage sources of attraction on your property. Since opossums are heavily drawn to human food waste, securing garbage cans is the primary preventative measure.
Securing Garbage
Investing in cans with locking mechanisms or utilizing heavy-duty bungee cords stretched across the lid and handles can effectively deter these resourceful animals. Storing trash cans inside a garage or shed until collection day removes the food source from the opossum’s nocturnal foraging route entirely. Reducing food odors by minimizing the amount of food waste placed in outdoor bins also helps lessen the initial attraction.
Managing Pet Food
Any pet food left outside for dogs or cats should be brought in before dusk, as this is a common and easily accessible food source for opossums.
Safe Feeding Alternatives
Wildlife professionals generally advise against feeding wild animals to prevent dependency. However, those wishing to provide a safer alternative should focus on non-hazardous, natural foods. Appropriate choices include:
- Fruits like apples or berries
- Vegetables
- Cooked eggs with the shells removed
- Small amounts of dry, nutritionally complete cat or dog food
These alternatives are formulated to be digestible and do not present the same splintering risk as cooked bone.