This week for Flora and Fauna Friday we have our one and only North American marsupial, the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana).
The Virginia Opossum is by all measures a strange beast. Just like the Armadillo, there’s no way I can cover all its unique traits in one post, so I’ll give you some highlights. But first, we’ll start with a description. Our Opossum is a medium sized mammal about the size of a cat. Their fur is thick, short, and frizzy, blending from an ivory white on the face to a dingy brownish-gray highlighted by bright white bristles across the body and then darkening down around the knees to a charcoal black. Their body is bulky and their head large and pointed, with small black ears, forward facing eyes, and little pink nose. On the reverse their tail is thick and hairless and held outstretched as they saunter through the forest. Opossums are not a creature in a hurry. Their gait is short and their pace is relaxed, as if they’re simply out for an evening stroll. One of the unique things about our Opossum is that they are the only marsupial native to North America. Marsupials give birth to under-developed live young. Those young then spend the next stage of their life sleeping and nursing in their mother’s pouch on her belly until they’re big enough to survive the elements. Mother Opossums can often be seen with her litter of little ones clinging to her back as she strolls through the understory.
Opossums can be found throughout the Eastern United States in woodland habitats. They’re predominantly nocturnal and split their time between the forest canopy and its floor. They have several unique adaptation for life in the tree tops, including opposable rear thumbs and a prehensile tail, both of which can easily wrap around tree branches. Opossums are true omnivores and they will eat just about anything, including fruits, frogs, crabs, seeds, insects, carrion, eggs, and, most notably, ticks and snakes. Opossums have a nose and a taste for ticks and will scarf down any they encounter as they wander the woods. Opossums are also extremely resistant to snake venom and can be a major predator of young vipers. They also have quite the taste for chicken, both chicken eggs and the hens themselves, and they can be a major nuisance for folks keeping chickens. As those folks likely know, Opossums have an interesting defense strategy. When cornered, Opossums tend to just sit there and hiss, head low and mouth agape. Opossums also hold the title for the most teeth of any mammal in North America, so it’s not an unimpressive bluff. They’re not really aggressive and they’re pretty much the opposite of nimble. If their initial bluff fails, they sometimes go all in instead of running. Opossums are known for playing dead. When assaulted, they can go limp with their eyes wide open, lips curled back, and while releasing a horrid aroma, all of which is pretty convincing to most unenthusiastic predators that said Opossum actually kicked the bucket a week ago and is not fit for eating. It doesn’t work out for the Opossum all the time but it works often enough that’s it’s worth them trying.
