Today is Thursday, February 8, 2001, and because of the storm I didn't go to work. Instead I am sitting here in my home office with a cozy fire going in the stove. I look out the window and there's an opossum just walking by. He is having a hard time as everything is so icy he keeps slipping. He is heading straight for our composter. We have seen tracks all winter around the compost and the house and had not been sure what they were. He is obviously very hungry to be out in the middle of the afternoon. Earlier in the winter, he dug a tunnel into the compost and has been feeding there. We have been away for a week so there has been nothing for him to eat.
I quickly grab my camera and take a couple of shots. He is so cute with his little pink hands and feet and his prehensile tail. Today he also looks a little drenched with all the rain that's been falling. He is desperately trying to get into the compost but his tunnel is iced over. Tomorrow, we will dig out his tunnel and put some new compost out for him.

I am intrigued by this little animal, which I have never seen up close before, and decide to do a little bit of research. This is what I found out. The opossum is North America's only marsupial mammal (female has a pouch for its babies). Opossums are the earth's oldest surviving mammal family. They lived during the age of dinosaurs, fossil remains have been found from 70 million years ago. About the size of a cat, the opossum has grey to black fur, black eyes, pink nose, feet (with thumbs) and tail, black hairless ears with white tips. Its tail is prehensile which means it can grasp with its tail although it does not hang in trees by its tail.

The opossum is an omnivore; it can eat almost anything. It loves insects, snails, slugs, mice, overripe fruit, nuts, seeds, grasses and carrion. They are very adaptable and live wherever water, food and shelter exist. The opossum is a solitary and nocturnal animal sleeping during the day in hollow trees or abandoned rodent burrows. They are gentle animals and prefer to avoid all confrontations and be left alone. When frightened and unable to flee, they may "play possum" pretending that they are dead; they remain still, do not blink, and their tongue hangs out. Few live beyond one year as they have many predators: humans, dogs, cats, owls, foxes and other larger wildlife.

Females can have two litters per year. The babies, five to eight in a litter, are about the size of a bee when born. These tiny creatures crawl into the fur-lined pouch where they live and drink milk from teats for two to three months. Even after they come out of the pouch, mom carries them around on her back for another month or two whenever they are away from the den.

In summary, the opossum appears to be one of nature's beneficial wildlife species. They eat all kinds of pests and carrion. They do not dig in the soil, destroy property, there is a low risk of exposure to disease as they seem to have a naturally high level of immunity to most diseases and they don't have a strong scent. So if one decides to take up residence in your garage or attic, try to use a non-lethal means to get them to move to a more suitable habitat.

If you want to find out more information about the opossum, simply type in "opossum" or "marsupial" in the search engine of your choice or go to our local library.

Editors Note: While Brigitte did take some pictures, she use her old fashioned camera that uses film, while I used my digital camera and was able to get the pictures up on the web right away.

On 11 March 2004 I received the following e-mail:

Hi ... I enjoyed your photos.

Last night I saw what I thought was my cat. To my surprise a little critter with a pink nose and big brown eyes was looking back at me. We stared at each other for a minute or two before it dawned on me to get my camera. I've enclosed a photo as an attachment.

I came across your website when I searched 'opossum's to learn more about them. It certainly impressed me as a gentle creature and intelligent. I wasn't surprised to find out it is considered to be more intelligent than dogs.

I live in the lower Fraser Valley in B.C. where we have lots of slugs (favourite food). I hope my little friend stays around. We have 25 acres of woods behind us with a small river. Regular visitors are: deer, black bear, coyote, hawks, cougar and bobcat. We don't need to travel to see wildlife.

Just thought I would share this with you ... have a great day!

Vivian

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