The Virginia opossum is the sole marsupial native to North America. This adaptable creature is roughly the size of a domestic cat, with a grayish-brown coat, a long, pointed snout, and a hairless tail. They are primarily nocturnal, conducting most of their activities under the cover of darkness.
Key Features of Possums
As marsupials, female opossums possess an abdominal pouch, or marsupium, where their highly underdeveloped young complete early development after birth. Newborn opossums crawl into this protective pouch to attach to a nipple and continue growing for about two months. Opossums also feature a prehensile tail, which is mostly hairless and used for balance when climbing and for carrying nesting materials. Their hind feet are equipped with an opposable, clawless digit, which aids significantly in grasping branches for climbing. They possess 50 teeth, more than any other North American land mammal.
Where Possums Live and Thrive
Virginia opossums exhibit remarkable adaptability, inhabiting a broad range of environments across North America, from southern Canada to northern Costa Rica. They thrive in diverse settings, including forests, woodlands, and urban and suburban areas, often preferring habitats near water sources. During the day, opossums seek shelter in natural cavities like tree hollows, abandoned burrows, rock crevices, or brush piles. While they do not hibernate, they may reduce activity and shelter during periods of extremely cold weather to avoid frostbite on their hairless ears and tails.
What Possums Eat and How They Behave
Opossums are opportunistic omnivores, consuming a highly varied diet that shifts with seasonal availability. Their diet includes fruits, grains, insects, small rodents, and carrion. In human-populated areas, they may also forage for pet food, rotten fruit, or discarded human food. A distinctive defensive behavior is “playing possum.” When severely threatened, an opossum may collapse, lie limp with its mouth open, tongue hanging out, and eyes glazed, often emitting a foul odor. This feigning of death can last for minutes to several hours. They are largely solitary animals, interacting primarily during breeding season.
Possums and People
Interactions between opossums and humans are common due to their adaptability to urban and suburban areas. While sometimes perceived as nuisances for raiding trash cans or seeking shelter under decks, opossums are generally not aggressive. Opossums play a role in the ecosystem, consuming pests like insects, slugs, and snails. They are resistant to many diseases, including rabies, due to their lower body temperature, and also exhibit resistance to the venom of many common snakes. To coexist peacefully, securing trash cans with tight-fitting lids and avoiding leaving pet food outdoors can discourage their presence near homes.