The Ugly Opossum

Spring is baby season for much of our native wildlife. One of the more unusual life cycles is that of the opossum. This somewhat prehistoric looking creature is North America's only marsupial, the only mammal that carries her young in a pouch while they mature. It is also the only mammal from our area with a naked prehensile (grasping) tail.

Opossums are solitary and nocturnal, wandering a "home range" looking for food. Dogs and cars are their most dangerous enemies. They can climb well, and will sleep in an empty garbage pail or under a shed until the safety of darkness gives them the security to roam in search of something tasty. They will eat just about anything, from berries and eggs to road kill. This is why they are often seen dead in the road, as they are noshing on a dead frog, and another car comes along. Their primary defense is to open their mouth and show all 50 of their teeth, hissing, screeching and salivating to scare off an attacker, but more often they "play possum" by lying motionless on their backs with eyes closed and tongue lolling from the mouth. It is this skill which has many people scratching their heads when the "dead" opossum is no longer where they saw it when they went to get a shovel to remove the body.

Opossums breed early in the year, and after a mere 12-13 days, tiny embryonic babies crawl through the mother's hair to her pouch where they each attach themselves to a nipple. They are the size if a navy bean, pink and blind. They spend the next two months in the pouch, and then they start to ride on Mom's back while still returning to her belly to nurse.

Litter sizes range from 1 - 14 (as Mom only has 14 nipples, anyone who does not get a nipple, does not survive). Momma opossum has weak maternal instincts. Once the babies start to venture out of the pouch, they can fall off, or get left behind. Either she does not notice - or care - Momma just keeps travel'n on. Baby opossums who are alone and have a body which measures less than 5-6" should be taken to a rehabber if mom is no where to be found.

With all of the destruction of habitat and increased traffic on our roadways, more opossums will meet their maker before their time. Many of the females are "with children" when they are hit, and there is often still hope for the young.

If you are out and about this spring and see an unfortunate opossum on the side of the road, please stop and check for signs of life. If the animal is male, and definitely dead, move the body off into a safe area of the woods or weeds where it can become part of the circle of life (food for some other animal). If the animal is female, look at the belly for signs of movement, and if there are live babies the best plan is to use a box and a shovel or blanket to contain and transport the mothers body to the closest animal hospital, where they can remove and warm the babies until they can be sent to a rehabilitator.

Some very tiny babies are just too small to be raised successfully by people, but can sometimes be added to the pouch of a nursing mother who may be in the care of a rehabber. Once they start to get a covering of hair, they are usually large enough to be fed through a tiny stomach tube and if they have not sustained any serious injuries from mom's accident, they usually do quite well.

We have raised hundreds of orphaned opossums and have never had to worry about one being too tame to be released. The biggest challenge is to make sure that they will recognize and hunt for the foods that they will need to survive once on their own, and to find a safe area where there is not too high of an opossum population.

March 21, 2008

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