The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only
opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
. It is the northernmost
marsupial
Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...
in the world. In the United States and Canada, it is typically called a possum,
'possum or opossum. It is a solitary
nocturnal animal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
about the size of a
domestic cat, and a successful
opportunist
Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term ...
.
Opossums are familiar to many North Americans as they frequently inhabit settled areas near food sources like trash cans, pet food,
compost piles, gardens or housemice. Their slow and nocturnal nature, and their attraction to roadside
carrion, makes many
roadkill.
Name
The Virginia opossum is the original animal named "
opossum", a word which comes from
Algonquian ''wapathemwa'', meaning "white animal". Colloquially, the Virginia opossum is frequently just called a "possum".
The name ''opossum'' is applied more generally to any of the other marsupials of the families
Didelphidae and
Caenolestidae
The family Caenolestidae contains the seven surviving species of shrew opossum: small, shrew-like marsupials that are confined to the Andes mountains of South America. The order is thought to have diverged from the ancestral marsupial line very e ...
. The generic name (''Didelphis'') is derived from Ancient Greek: ''di'', "two", and ''delphus'', "womb".
The
possums
Possum may refer to:
Animals
* Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi
** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...
of
Australia, whose name is derived from a similarity to the opossums of the Americas, are also marsupials, but of the order
Diprotodontia
Diprotodontia (, from Greek "two forward teeth") is the largest extant order of marsupials, with about 155 species, including the kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koala, wombats, and many others. Extinct diprotodonts include the hippopotamus-sized ...
.
The Virginia opossum is known in Mexico as ''tlacuache'', ''tacuachi'', and ''tlacuachi'', from the
Nahuatl word ''tlacuatzin''.
Range
The Virginia opossum's ancestors evolved in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, but spread into North America as part of the
Great American Interchange, which occurred mainly after the formation of the
Isthmus of Panama about 3 million years ago. ''Didelphis'' was apparently one of the later migrants, entering North America about 0.8 million years ago.
It is now found throughout
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and
North America from
Costa Rica to southern
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
and is expanding its range northward, northwesterly and northeasterly at a significant pace.
Its pre-European settlement range was generally as far north as
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
; southern
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
;
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
and
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
. The clearing of dense forests in these areas and further north by settlers allowed the opossum to move northward. Elimination of the opossums main predators in these areas also contributed to their expansion. Since 1900, it has expanded its range to include most of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
(including
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
);
New York, extreme southwestern
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
; most of southern and eastern
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
; most of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
; most of
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, southeastern
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...
and most of
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
.
Areas such as
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
and
Waterloo Region
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...
and
Simcoe County
Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...
in southern Ontario rarely had sightings of opossums in the 1960s, but now have them regularly, some speculate that this is likely due to global warming causing winters to be warmer. Some people speculate the expansion into Ontario mostly occurred by opossums accidentally being transferred across the
St. Lawrence
Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...
,
Niagara,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
and
St. Clair rivers by motor vehicles or trains they may have climbed upon. As the opossum is not adapted to colder winters or heavy snow, its population may be significantly reduced if a colder winter with heavier snow occurs in a particular northern region.
The Virginia opossum was not originally native to the West Coast of the United States. It was intentionally introduced into the West
during the
Great Depression, probably as a source of food, and now occupies much of the Pacific coast. Its range has been expanding steadily northward into
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada.
Description
![Virginia opossum opposable thumb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Virginia_opossum_opposable_thumb.jpg)
Virginia opossums can vary considerably in size, with larger specimens found to the north of the opossum's range and smaller specimens in the tropics. They measure 13–37
in (35–94
cm) long from their snout to the base of the tail, with the tail adding another 8.5–19 in (21.6–47 cm). Weight for males ranges from 1.7 to 14 lb (0.8–6.4
kg) and for females from 11 ounces to 8.2 lb (0.3–3.7 kg). They are one of the world's most variably sized mammals, since a large male from northern North America weighs about 20 times as much as a small female from the tropics.
Their coats are a dull grayish brown, other than on their faces, which are white. Opossums have long, hairless,
prehensile
Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different orig ...
tails, which can be used to grab branches and carry small objects. They also have hairless ears and a long, flat nose. Opossums have
50 teeth, more than any other North American land mammal, and opposable, clawless thumbs on their rear limbs. Opossums have 13
nipple
The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in females, milk leaves the breast through the lactiferous ducts to feed an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively or it can be ejected by smooth m ...
s, arranged in a circle of 12 with one in the middle.
The dental formula of an opossum is . No other mammal in North America has more than 6 upper incisors, but the Virginia opossum has 10.
Perhaps surprisingly for such a widespread and successful species, the Virginia opossum has one of the lowest
encephalization quotient
Encephalization quotient (EQ), encephalization level (EL), or just encephalization is a relative brain size measure that is defined as the ratio between observed to predicted brain mass for an animal of a given size, based on nonlinear regress ...
s of any marsupial.
Its brain is one-fifth the size of a raccoon's.
Tracks
![Opossum and vole tracks in mud](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Opossum_and_vole_tracks_in_mud.JPG)
Virginia opossum tracks generally show five finger-like toes in both the fore and hind prints.
[Krause, William J.; Krause, Winifred A. (2006]
''The Opossum: Its Amazing Story''
. Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 80 pages. The hind tracks are unusual and distinctive due to the opossum's opposable
thumb, which generally prints at an angle of 90° or greater to the other fingers (sometimes near 180°). Individual adult tracks generally measure 1.9 in long by 2.0 in wide (4.8 × 5.1 cm) for the fore prints and 2.5 in long by 2.3 in wide (6.4 × 5.7 cm) for the hind prints. Opossums have claws on all fingers fore and hind except on the two thumbs (in the photograph, claw marks show as small holes just beyond the tip of each finger); these generally show in the tracks. In a soft medium, such as the mud in this photograph, the foot pads clearly show (these are the deep, darker areas where the fingers and toes meet the rest of the hand or foot, which have been filled with plant debris by wind due to the advanced age of the tracks).
The tracks in the photograph were made while the opossum was walking with its typical pacing
gait. The four aligned toes on the hind print show the approximate direction of travel.
In a pacing gait, the limbs on one side of the body are moved simultaneously, just prior to moving both limbs on the other side of the body. This is illustrated in the pacing diagram, which explains why the left-fore and right-hind tracks are generally found together (and vice versa). If the opossum was not walking (perhaps running), the prints would fall in a different pattern. Other animals that generally employ a pacing gait are
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
s,
bears,
skunks,
badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
s,
woodchuck
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through m ...
s,
porcupines, and
beavers.
When pacing, the opossum's 'stride' generally measures from 7 to 10 in, or 18 to 25 cm (in the pacing diagram the stride is 8.5 in, where one grid square is equal to 1 in
2). To determine the stride of a pacing gait, measure from the tip (just beyond the fingers or toes in the direction of travel, disregarding claw marks) of one set of fore/hind tracks to the tip of the next set. By taking careful stride and track-size measurements, one can usually determine what species of animal created a set of tracks, even when individual track details are vague or obscured.
Behavior
"Playing possum"
![PlayingPossum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/PlayingPossum.jpg)
If threatened, an opossum will either flee or take a stand. To appear threatening, an opossum will first bare its 50 teeth, snap its jaw, hiss, drool, and stand its fur on end to look bigger.
If this does not work, the Virginia opossum is noted for
feigning death in response to extreme fear.
This is the genesis of the term "
playing possum
''Playing Possum'' is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Elektra Records, on April 21, 1975.
It was Simon's third consecutive album to reach the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Pop albums chart, peaking a ...
", which means pretending to be dead or injured with intent to deceive.
In this inactive state it lies limp and motionless on its side, mouth and eyes open, tongue hanging out, and feet clenched.
Fear can also cause the opossum to release a green fluid from its anus with a putrid odor that repels predators.
Heart rate drops by half, and breathing rate is so slow and shallow it is hardly detectable.
Death feigning normally stops when the threat withdraws, and it can last for several hours.
Besides discouraging animals that eat live prey, playing possum also convinces some large animals that the opossum is no threat to their young.
"Playing possum" in response to threats from oncoming traffic often results in death.
Diet
Opossums are
omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...
(sometimes said to be
insectivorous) and eat a wide range of plant-based food, as well as animal-based food like small invertebrates,
carrion, eggs, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals, and other small animals.
Insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
such as grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles make up the bulk of animal foods.
It has been stated that opossums eat up to 95% of the
ticks
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...
they encounter.
and may eat up to 5,000 ticks per season, helping to prevent the spread of tick-born illnesses, including
Lyme disease
Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...
and
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease spread by ticks. It typically begins with a fever and headache, which is followed a few days later with the development of a rash. The rash is generally made up of small spots of bleedin ...
.
This interpretation has been challenged.
Small animals include young rabbits, meadow voles, mice, rats, birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, fish, and crayfish.
The Virginia opossum has been found to be very resistant to snake venom.
Attracted to carrion on the side of the highway, opossums are at an increased risk of being hit by motor vehicles.
Plant foods are mainly eaten in late summer, autumn, and early winter.
These include raspberries, blackberries, apples, acorns, beechnuts, and vegetables.
Persimmons
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...
are one of the opossum's favorite foods during the autumn. Opossums in urban areas scavenge from bird feeders, vegetable gardens, compost piles, garbage cans, and food dishes intended for dogs and cats.
![Possum122708](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Possum122708.JPG)
Opossums in captivity are known to engage in
cannibalism, though this is probably uncommon in the wild. Because of this, placing an injured opossum in a confined space with its healthy counterparts is inadvisable.
Seasonality
The Virginia opossum is most active during the spring and summer.
It does not hibernate but reduces its activity during the winter.
It may not leave its den for several days if the temperature drops below -7 to -4 degrees C.
Both males and females are at greater risk of injury during breeding season.
Males extend their range in search of mates which puts them at greater risk of injury from motor vehicles and predators due to unknown territory.
Females carrying young are slower moving and have to forage earlier in the evening and later into the night, also increasing their risk of injury from motor vehicles and predation.
Reproduction
![Didelphis virginiana with young](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Didelphis_virginiana_with_young.JPG)
The breeding season for the Virginia opossum can begin as early as December and continue through October with most young born between February and June.
A female opossum may have one to three litters per year.
During the mating season, the male attracts the female by making clicking sounds with his mouth.
The female's
estrus cycle
The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous p ...
is 28 days and lasts 36 hours.
Gestation lasts 11–13 days and the average litter size is 8–9 infants, although over 20 infants may be born.
Opossums have a very high
mortality rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...
of their young; only one in ten offspring survive to reproductive adulthood.
Newborns are the size of a
honeybee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...
.
Once delivered through the median vagina or central birth canal, newborn opossums climb up into the female opossum's pouch and latch onto one of her 13 teats.
The young remain latched for two months and in the pouch for months.
The young then climb onto the mother's back, where she carries them for the remainder of their time together.
It is during this time that the young learn survival skills.
They leave their mother after about four or five months.
Like all female
marsupial
Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...
s, the female's reproductive system is bifid, with two lateral vaginae, uteri, and ovaries.
The male's penis is also bifid, with two heads, and as is common in New World marsupials, the sperm pair up in the testes and only separate as they come close to the egg.
Lifespan
Compared to other mammals, including most other marsupials except
dasyuromorphia
Dasyuromorphia (, meaning "hairy tail" in Greek) is an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the thylacine. In Australia, the exceptions include the omn ...
ns, opossums have unusually short lifespans for their size and metabolic rate.
[Krause, William J.; Krause, Winifred A. (2006]
''The Opossum: Its Amazing Story''
. Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 80 pages. The Virginia opossum has a maximal lifespan in the wild of only about two years. Even in captivity, opossums live only about four years. The rapid
senescence of opossums is thought to reflect the fact that they have few defenses against predators; given that they would have little prospect of living very long regardless, they are not under
selective pressure
Any cause that reduces or increases reproductive success in a portion of a population potentially exerts evolutionary pressure, selective pressure or selection pressure, driving natural selection. It is a quantitative description of the amount of ...
to develop biochemical mechanisms to enable a long lifespan.
[Karen Wrigh]
Staying Alive
Discover Magazine. November 6, 2003 Accessed Oct 15, 2007. In support of this hypothesis, one population on
Sapelo Island
Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by aircraft or boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mil ...
, off the coast of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, which has been isolated for thousands of years without natural predators, was found by Dr. Steven Austad to have evolved lifespans up to 50% longer than those of mainland populations.
Historical references
An early description of the opossum comes from explorer
John Smith, who wrote in ''Map of Virginia, with a Description of the Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and Religion'' in 1608 that "An Opassom hath an head like a Swine, and a taile like a Rat, and is of the bignes of a Cat. Under her belly she hath a bagge, wherein she lodgeth, carrieth, and sucketh her young."
The opossum was more formally described in 1698 in a published letter entitled "''Carigueya, Seu Marsupiale Americanum Masculum''. Or, The Anatomy of a Male Opossum: In a Letter to Dr Edward Tyson," from Mr
William Cowper
William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...
, Chirurgeon, and
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
, London, by Edward Tyson, M.D. Fellow of the College of Physicians and of the Royal Society. The letter suggests even earlier descriptions.
Relationship with humans
![American opossum in baby grand piano](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/American_opossum_in_baby_grand_piano.jpg)
Like raccoons, opossums can be found in urban environments, where they eat pet food, rotten fruit, and human garbage. Humans may be causing an increase in body size for opossums that live near urban environments. Though sometimes mistakenly considered to be rats, opossums are not closely related to
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s, or other
placental
Placental mammals (infraclass Placentalia ) are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placentalia contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguishe ...
mammals.
Opossums are surprisingly resistant to
rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, ...
, most likely because they have lower body temperatures than most placental mammals. In addition, opossums limit the spread of
Lyme disease
Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...
, as they successfully kill off most disease-carrying ticks that feed on them, though this has been recently challenged.
''D. virginiana'' is among the most common predators of
poultry farming in North America.
The opossum was once a favorite game animal in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, particularly in the southern regions which have a large body of recipes and folklore relating to it. Their past wide consumption in regions where present is evidenced by recipes available online and in books such as older editions of ''
The Joy of Cooking
''Joy of Cooking'', often known as "''The Joy of Cooking''", is one of the United States' most-published cookbooks. It has been in print continuously since 1936 and has sold more than 20 million copies. It was published privately during 1931 b ...
''. A traditional method of preparation is baking, sometimes in a pie or pastry, though at present "possum pie" most often refers to a sweet confection containing no meat of any kind.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the opossum was the subject of numerous songs, including "Carve dat Possum," a minstrel song written in 1875 by Sam Lucas.
Although it is widely distributed in the United States, the Virginia opossum's appearance in folklore and popularity as a food item has tied it closely to the American
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. In animation, it is often used to depict uncivilized characters or "
hillbillies
Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...
". Not surprisingly, then, the Virginia opossum is featured in several episodes of the hit TV show ''
The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...
'', such as the "Possum Day" episode in 1965. The title character in
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973), commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip '' Pogo''. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contr ...
's long-running comic strip ''
Pogo'' was an opossum. In an attempt to create another icon like the
teddy bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...
,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
was tied to the character Billy Possum. The character did not do well, as public perception of the opossum led to its downfall. In December 2010, a cross-eyed Virginia opossum in Germany's
Leipzig Zoo
Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo (german: link=no, Zoologischer Garten Leipzig) is a zoo in Leipzig`s district Mitte, Germany. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after World War I and no ...
named
Heidi
''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Use ...
became an international celebrity.
[Kelsey, Eric. (January 11, 2011).]
Cross-eyed opossum capturing hearts
. Reuters. Retrieved January 12, 2011. She appeared on a TV talk show to predict the 2011 Oscar winners, similar to the World Cup predictions made previously by
Paul the Octopus
Paul the Octopus (26 January 2008 – 26 October 2010) was a common octopus used to predict the results of international association football matches. Accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal ...
, also in Germany.
[Kelsey, Eric. (28 February 2011).]
German celebrity opossum misses one Oscar pick
. Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
The
Perelman Building
The Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building—originally the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company Building—is an annex of the Philadelphia Museum of Art containing exhibition galleries, offices, conservation labs, and the museum library. It is a ...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, an annex of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, was formerly the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company Building. Built in the late 1920s its facade is decorated with polychrome sculptures of animals symbolizing various attributes of insurance, including a possum to represent "protection."
References
External links
The National Opossum SocietyOpossum Society of the United States*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q147267
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
Marsupials of Central America
Marsupials of North America
Mammals of Canada
Mammals of the United States
Mammals of Mexico
Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
Virginia opossum
The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United S ...
Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
Fauna of the Great Plains
Virginia opossum
The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United S ...
Virginia opossum
The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United S ...
Mammals described in 1792
Articles containing video clips
Fauna of the Northeastern United States
Symbols of North Carolina