Recently, I was lucky enough to see my first ever baby opossum. I was immediately shocked by how tiny it was. Looking at its tiny face, I knew immediately what I would write about for this month’s Nature News: Opossums!
Although the baby I got the chance to see was much smaller than I expected, I did some research and learned that opossums are actually born the size of honey bees! Once born, they crawl into their mother’s pouch—opossums are North America’s only marsupial—where they stay for much of their early development.
Though they have up to 20 babies per litter, fewer than half of them make it as far as the pouch. The ones that do make it remain attached to the nipple inside the pouch for 55 days, by which time they are about the size of a house mouse. At this stage they will begin to explore outside of the pouch and enjoy riding on their mom’s back while she hunts for food. When the young are 100 days old they become weaned, leave their mother, and begin their solitary life. They grow to about the size of a large house cat.
Local wildlife rescuer Jim Africano with a young opossum
One of my favorite things about opossums is their life-saving trick commonly known as “playing possum.” This refers to their incredible defense tactic in dangerous situations. When a predator attacks, the opossum will flop onto its side and lie on the ground with its eyes closed or staring ahead to appear to be dead. This causes the predator to drop its guard long enough for the opossum to find an opportunity to escape.
Opossums can get a bad rap, partly due to their rat-like features, but among the facts many people don’t know:
– They eat an average of 5,000 ticks per season!
– They are not aggressive, though their hissing is an attempt to look vicious for self-protection
– They rarely carry rabies
– They eat almost anything, such as snails, slugs, spiders, cockroaches, rats, mice and snakes
– They do not prey on cats or other mammals but will attack if cornered and scared.
Do remember that it is illegal to keep an opossum as a pet in Tennessee. Even if they are injured and in need of help, they should be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation facility. Once healthy, they can be released back into the wild.
If you are seeing more opossums around your property than you’d like to see, check entrances to garages and outbuildings, under porches, etc. They will be lured by pet food left outside, open compost piles, backyard chicken flocks (they do love the eggs), spillage from bird feeders and good water sources. They aren’t trying to move in but are opportunists who will take full advantage of any food, water and shelter sources you might, even unknowingly, be providing.
