One of our region’s most misunderstood native animals is the Virginia Opossum, the little fuzzy gray animal with the iconic “rat-like” pink tail and toothy grin.
People often wrongly associate the Opossom with rodents, but they are in fact the only marsupial native to the United States, meaning the females birth their young into a small pouch on their bellies and continue to carry and nurse them in the pouch until they are fully developed and ready to emerge.
Once they emerge, the mother will carry the tiny babies on her back until they are ready to be on their own.
Opossums are typically about the size of a house cat and generally have very docile temperaments. They are known for their pink, nearly hairless prehensile tails that are able to grasp and hold objects. They also have an opposable digit on each hind foot that functions just like our thumbs, making them excellent climbers.
A common misconception about the opossum is that they are dirty and carry disease, however, the Virginia Opossom’s body temperature is too low for the rabies virus to survive and therefore they do not contract or carry rabies. They are also very clean animals, regularly grooming themselves thoroughly, just like cats.
These critters are highly resistant to deadly snake venom due to their frequent ingestion of venomous snakes. Wild opossums have been observed being able to withstand a full bite from a diamondback rattlesnake, something enough to kill an adult human, and exhibit no symptoms other than bite site trauma.
Another benefit of having these animals around is that insects are a large part of their diet, including ticks. Captive opossums have been observed eating 95 percent of ticks that they encounter, typically during grooming, and scientists theorize that a healthy population of wild opossums can help keep tick populations (and lyme disease by default) in check.
Finally, we all know the term “playing possum,” but the opossum truly lives it, using a state called “tonic immobility” to feign death, going limp and emitting a foul odor in an attempt to make themselves unappealing to predators.
Unfortunately, this reaction often causes them to end up as roadkill.
Next time you see one of these little gray critters, take a minute to consider all the positives to sharing your natural space with them and enjoy their pleasant nature.
HCLT celebrates and protects all the incredible biodiversity that makes our area so special. For more fun and informative content, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook or at hcltnc.org.
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