Opossums, North America’s sole native marsupial, are known for their nocturnal habits and adaptability across various environments. Many wonder if these opportunistic foragers include mosquitoes in their diet. Understanding their feeding behaviors reveals insights into their ecological role.
Opossums and Mosquitoes
Opossums are omnivorous, consuming both plant and animal matter, including insects. While they may ingest mosquitoes, especially when insect populations are abundant, these insects do not constitute a significant portion of an opossum’s diet. Their foraging style, which involves searching on the ground or consuming larger, slower prey, is not adapted for actively hunting numerous small, airborne mosquitoes.
The True Opossum Diet
Opossums are highly opportunistic eaters, consuming diverse food sources based on availability. Their diet includes carrion, or dead animals, such as roadkill, positioning them as nature’s clean-up crew. They also regularly feed on a variety of invertebrates, including larger insects like beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and cockroaches. Small vertebrates like rodents, birds, frogs, and even snakes are also part of their meals.
Beyond animal protein, opossums readily consume a wide array of plant matter. This includes fruits such as berries, apples, and persimmons, as well as vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds. In human-populated areas, they are known to scavenge on accessible items like pet food, birdseed, and discarded human food scraps from garbage. Opossums possess a keen sense of smell, which aids their nocturnal foraging, and their diet often includes items high in calcium, sometimes leading them to consume skeletal remains.
Opossum’s Ecological Contributions
Opossums provide several ecological benefits. They control tick populations. Opossums are meticulous groomers and are highly effective at removing and consuming ticks that attach to their fur. While the exact number of ticks consumed varies and is subject to ongoing research, their grooming behavior significantly reduces the number of ticks in their immediate environment. Their scavenging habits also make them important for ecosystem health by consuming carrion, which helps to remove decaying matter and can reduce the spread of certain diseases. Opossums further assist in natural pest control by eating slugs, snails, and other common garden pests. Additionally, these marsupials contribute to seed dispersal by consuming fruits and then distributing seeds through their waste. Opossums also exhibit a notable immunity to the venom of some snakes, occasionally preying on them.