is opossum a rodent?

Baby opossums, also known as joeys, are the offspring of the only marsupial native to North America, the Virginia opossum. These fascinating creatures lead interesting lives and play a vital role in their ecosystem. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the physical characteristics, habitat, life cycle, behavior, diet, health, and importance of baby opossums in the ecosystem.

At birth, baby opossums are incredibly small, measuring only about the size of a honeybee. As they grow, they reach an average weight of 1.5 to 2 pounds and a body length of 15 to 20 inches, with their prehensile tail accounting for an additional 9 to 13 inches.

Baby opossums are born hairless but quickly develop a coat of fur as they mature. Their fur is generally grayish-white, with a lighter face and darker legs and tail. Their coloration helps them blend into their surroundings, providing camouflage against predators.

Virginia opossums are found throughout the United States, with their range extending into parts of Canada and Mexico. They inhabit a variety of habitats, including forests, grasslands, and urban areas, and are quite adaptable to different environments. Baby opossums typically remain in their mother's pouch or on her back as she searches for food and shelter.

Opossums generally mate during the late winter or early spring, with a gestation period of only 12 to 14 days. After this brief period, the underdeveloped joeys are born and must immediately make their way to their mother's pouch to continue developing.

Once inside the pouch, the baby opossums latch onto one of their mother's teats and continue to grow for about two months. During this time, they develop fur, open their eyes, and begin to explore their surroundings.

After leaving their mother's pouch, the joeys spend another month or two riding on her back while they learn to find food and navigate their environment. At around four months of age, the young opossums become independent and begin to establish their own territories.

Opossums reach sexual maturity at around 6 to 8 months of age and have a relatively short lifespan, typically living for only 2 to 4 years in the wild.

Opossums are primarily

Continue writing please

solitary, nocturnal animals that are most active during the night. They are excellent climbers, thanks to their prehensile tails, which help them navigate through trees and other structures with ease. Although they are not aggressive creatures, opossums have been known to "play dead" or "play possum" when they feel threatened. This behavior involves the opossum falling limp, excreting a foul-smelling liquid, and appearing lifeless to deter predators.

Baby opossums are initially dependent on their mother's milk for nutrition. As they grow, they begin to transition to a more varied diet. Opossums are opportunistic omnivores, feeding on a wide range of food sources, including fruits, vegetables, insects, small mammals, eggs, and carrion. Their diverse diet contributes to their adaptability and ability to thrive in various environments.

Baby opossums are susceptible to several health issues, including parasites, respiratory infections, and injuries from other animals or vehicles. One notable health concern for opossums is a neurological condition called "opossum limp," which can result from trauma or a deficiency in certain nutrients. It is essential to contact a wildlife rehabilitator if you come across a baby opossum in need of assistance, as they have specialized knowledge and resources to provide the necessary care.

Opossums play a crucial role in their ecosystem by controlling insect and rodent populations, reducing the spread of disease, and helping to maintain a balanced food chain. Additionally, opossums are known to consume ticks, which can carry harmful diseases like Lyme disease, thus contributing to a healthier environment for humans and other animals.

If you encounter a baby opossum in your backyard or neighborhood, it is essential to give them space and allow them to go about their business. Avoid approaching, feeding, or attempting to handle them, as this can cause stress and may lead to injury for both you and the animal. If you believe a baby opossum is in need of assistance, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator for guidance.

Although often described as “large rats ”, opossums (Didelphis virginiana) are not rodents, but marsupials (relative of the kangaroo). They are the only marsupial in North America. Adult opossums are about the size of a cat and can weigh between four and fourteen pounds.

While these furry creatures can be quite interesting, they can also create many problems when they come onto our property. One of the most prominent problems they cause is lawn damage. Opossums are fond of grubs. When they come into a yard, they will damage turf grass as they dig to get at the grubs under the surface. But, arguably, those grubs would have done some damage anyway.

If an opossum makes its home under a porch, deck, shed, or outbuilding, it may present a danger to pets and children. While not an aggressive animal, by any means, it will defend itself if cornered or protecting young. Most of the time, it will open its mouth wide and bare its teeth as a threatening posture, or simply play dead.

The real risk of opossums is in the introduction of parasites such as fleas and lice, especially to domesticated cats. Outdoor cats are curious and are prone to go into areas where opossums have been. When they do, they can pick these parasites up and bring them into the house. It is important to note, however, that opossums are incredible groomers and this drive for constant grooming perfection makes them a rare carrier of ticks. In fact, they eat and digest most of the ticks that are unfortunate enough to get on them.

Opossums (/əˈpɒsəm/) are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia (/daɪˌdɛlfɪˈmɔːrfiə/) endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America.

The Virginia opossum is the only species found in the United States and Canada. It is often simply referred to as an opossum, and in North America it is commonly referred to as a possum (/ˈpɒsəm/; sometimes rendered as 'possum in written form to indicate the dropped "o"). Opossums should not be confused with the Australasian arboreal marsupials of suborder Phalangeriformes that are also called possums because of their resemblance to the Didelphimorphia. The opossum is typically a nonaggressive animal.

The word opossum is borrowed from the Powhatan language and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith (as opassom) and William Strachey (as aposoum). Siebert reconstructs the word phonemically as /a·passem/. Possum was first recorded in 1613. Both men encountered the language at the English settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, which Smith helped to found and where Strachey later served as its first secretary. Strachey's notes describe the opossum as a "beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike," while Smith recorded it "hath an head like a swine ... tail like a rat ... of the bigness of a cat." The Powhatan word ultimately derives from a Proto-Algonquian word (*wa·p-aʔθemwa) meaning "white dog or dog-like beast."

Following the arrival of Europeans in Australia, the term possum was borrowed to describe distantly related Australian marsupials of the suborder Phalangeriformes, which are more closely related to other Australian marsupials such as kangaroos.

They similarly have didelphimorphia, two (di) wombs (delphus), the second being a non-bilateral marsupial womb (nursing-pouch).

Opossums are frequently considered to be "living fossils", and as a result are often used to approximate the ancestral therian condition in comparative studies. However, this is inaccurate, as the oldest opossum fossils are from the early Miocene (roughly 20 million years old). The last common ancestor of all living opossums approximately dates to the Oligocene-Miocene boundary (23 million years ago) and is at most no older than Oligocene in age. Many extinct metatherians once considered early opossums, such as Alphadon, Peradectes, Herpetotherium, and Pucadelphys, have since been recognized to have been previously grouped with opossums on the basis of plesiomorphies and are now considered to represent older branches of Metatheria only distantly related to modern opossums.

Opossums probably originated in the Amazonia region of northern South America, where they began their initial diversification. They were minor components of South American mammal faunas until the late Miocene, when they began to diversify rapidly. Prior to this time the ecological niches presently occupied by opossums were occupied by other groups of metatherians such as paucituberculatans and sparassodonts Large opossums like Didelphis show a pattern of gradually increasing in size over geologic time as sparassodont diversity declined. Several groups of opossums, including Thylophorops, Thylatheridium, Hyperdidelphys, and sparassocynids developed carnivorous adaptations during the late Miocene-Pliocene, prior to the arrival of carnivorans in South America. Most of these groups with the exception of Lutreolina are now extinct.

Didelphimorphs are small to medium-sized marsupials that grow to the size of a house cat. They tend to be semi-arboreal omnivores, although there are many exceptions. Most members of this order have long snouts, a narrow braincase, and a prominent sagittal crest. The dental formula is: 5.1.3.44.1.3.4 × 2 = 50 teeth. By mammalian standards, this is an unusually full jaw. The incisors are very small, the canines large, and the molars are tricuspid.

Didelphimorphs have a plantigrade stance (feet flat on the ground) and the hind feet have an opposable digit with no claw. Like some New World monkeys, some opossums have prehensile tails. Like that of all marsupials, the fur consists of awn hair only; many females have a pouch. The tail and parts of the feet bear scutes. The stomach is simple, with a small cecum. Like most marsupials, the male opossum has a forked penis bearing twin glandes.

Although all living opossums are essentially opportunistic omnivores, different species vary in the amount of meat and vegetation they include in their diet. Members of the Caluromyinae are essentially frugivorous; whereas the lutrine opossum and Patagonian opossum primarily feed on other animals. The water opossum or yapok (Chironectes minimus) is particularly unusual, as it is the only living semi-aquatic marsupial, using its webbed hindlimbs to dive in search of freshwater mollusks and crayfish. The extinct Thylophorops, the largest known opossum at 4–7 kg (8.8–15.4 lb), was a macropredator. Most opossums are scansorial, well-adapted to life in the trees or on the ground, but members of the Caluromyinae and Glironiinae are primarily arboreal, whereas species of Metachirus, Monodelphis, and to a lesser degree Didelphis show adaptations for life on the ground. Metachirus nudicaudatus, found in the upper Amazon basin, consumes fruit seeds, small vertebrate creatures like birds and reptiles and invertebrates like crayfish and snails, but seems to be mainly insectivorous.

As a marsupial, the female opossum has a reproductive system that includes a bifurcated vagina and a divided uterus; many have a marsupium, the pouch. The average estrous cycle of the opossum is about 28 days. Opossums do possess a placenta, but it is short-lived, simple in structure, and, unlike that of placental mammals, not fully functional. The young are therefore born at a very early stage, although the gestation period is similar to that of many other small marsupials, at only 12 to 14 days. They give birth to litters of up to 20 young. Once born, the offspring must find their way into the marsupium, if present, to hold on to and nurse from a teat. Baby opossums, like their Australian cousins, are called joeys. Female opossums often give birth to very large numbers of young, most of which fail to attach to a teat, although as many as thirteen young can attach, and therefore survive, depending on species. The young are weaned between 70 and 125 days, when they detach from the teat and leave the pouch. The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only one to two years in the wild and as long as four or more years in captivity. Senescence is rapid.

The species are moderately sexually dimorphic with males usually being slightly larger, much heavier, and having larger canines than females. The largest difference between the opossum and non-marsupial mammals is the bifurcated penis of the male and bifurcated vagina of the female (the source of the term didelphimorph, from the Greek didelphys, meaning "double-wombed"). Opossum spermatozoa exhibit sperm-pairing, forming conjugate pairs in the epididymis. This may ensure that flagella movement can be accurately coordinated for maximal motility. Conjugate pairs dissociate into separate spermatozoa before fertilization.

Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in ready-made burrows or even under houses. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, they do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. These areas may be below ground or above.

When threatened or harmed, they will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. In the case of baby opossums, however, the brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therefore they often fail to "play dead" when threatened. When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of a few minutes to four hours, a process that begins with a slight twitching of the ears.

Some species of opossums have prehensile tails, although dangling by the tail is more common among juveniles. An opossum may also use its tail as a brace and a fifth limb when climbing. The tail is occasionally used as a grip to carry bunches of leaves or bedding materials to the nest. A mother will sometimes carry her young upon her back, where they will cling tightly even when she is climbing or running.

Threatened opossums (especially males) will growl deeply, raising their pitch as the threat becomes more urgent. Males make a clicking "smack" noise out of the side of their mouths as they wander in search of a mate, and females will sometimes repeat the sound in return. When separated or distressed, baby opossums will make a sneezing noise to signal their mother. The mother in return makes a clicking sound and waits for the baby to find her. If threatened, the baby will open its mouth and quietly hiss until the threat is gone.

Opossums eat dead animals, insects, rodents and birds. They also feed on eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain. One source notes their need for high amounts of calcium. To fulfill this need, opossums eat the skeletal remains of rodents and roadkill animals. They will also eat dog food, cat food and human food waste.

Many large opossums (Didelphini) are immune to the venom of rattlesnakes and pit vipers (Crotalinae) and regularly prey upon these snakes. This adaptation seems to be unique to the Didelphini, as their closest relative, the brown four-eyed opossum, is not immune to snake venom. Similar adaptations are seen in other small predatory mammals such as mongooses and hedgehogs. Didelphin opossums and crotaline vipers have been suggested to be in an evolutionary arms race. Some authors have suggested that this adaptation originally arose as a defense mechanism, allowing a rare reversal of an evolutionary arms race where the former prey has become the predator, whereas others have suggested it arose as a predatory adaptation given that it also occurs in other predatory mammals and does not occur in opossums that do not regularly eat other vertebrates. The fer-de-lance, one of the most venomous snakes in the New World, may have developed its highly potent venom as a means to prey on or a defense mechanism against large opossums.

Opossums are found in North, Central, and South America. The Virginia opossum lives in regions as far north as Canada and as far south as Central America, while other types of opossums only inhabit countries south of the United States. The Virginia opossum can often be found in wooded areas, though its habitat may vary widely. Opossums are generally found in areas like forests, shrubland, mangrove swamps, rainforests and eucalyptus forests. Opossums have been found moving northward.

The Virginia opossum was once widely hunted and consumed in the United States. Opossum farms have been operated in the United States in the past. Sweet potatoes were eaten together with the opossum in the American South. In 1909, a "Possum and 'Taters" banquet was held in Atlanta to honor President-elect William Howard Taft. South Carolina cuisine includes opossum, and President Jimmy Carter hunted opossums in addition to other small game. Raccoon, opossum, partridges, prairie hen and frogs were among the fare Mark Twain recorded as part of American cookery.

In Dominica, Grenada, Trinidad, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the common opossum or manicou is popular and can only be hunted during certain times of the year owing to overhunting. The meat is traditionally prepared by smoking, then stewing. It is light and fine-grained, but the musk glands must be removed as part of preparation. The meat can be used in place of rabbit and chicken in recipes. Historically, hunters in the Caribbean would place a barrel with fresh or rotten fruit to attract opossums that would feed on the fruit or insects.

In northern/central Mexico, opossums are known as tlacuache or tlacuatzin. Their tails are eaten as a folk remedy to improve fertility. In the Yucatán peninsula they are known in the Yucatec Mayan language as "och" and they are not considered part of the regular diet by Mayan people, but still considered edible in times of famine.

Opossum oil (possum grease) is high in essential fatty acids and has been used as a chest rub and a carrier for arthritis remedies given as salves.

Opossum pelts have long been part of the fur trade.

Classification based on Voss and Jansa (2009), species based on the American Society of Mammalogists (2021)

You may seldom see them, but they’ve been quietly crossing our borders and taking up residence in our backyards for years. With white faces, naked tails and beady eyes, these critters might be mistaken for a very large rat, but they’re a much more interesting neighbour.

The Virginia opossum is North America’s only marsupial (a mammal that carries its young in a pouch) and is native to the southern U.S. However, it’s been staging an invasion into Canada — but don’t be alarmed!

The opossum — commonly called a possum in North America (though the term technically refers to marsupials native to Australia) — is a helpful addition to habitats across Southern Ontario and Quebec. It’s even reaching parts of B.C.’s Fraser Valley.

One person who has been watching them closely is Toronto-based psychologist and biologist Suzanne MacDonald. She has spent years observing the city’s urban raccoons, but recently, she’s been studying these homely, surprisingly useful newcomers.

“I saw my first opossum 20 years ago in Toronto,” says MacDonald. “They were much rarer back then, but more and more people have become familiar with them in the last five years.

With their long snouts and beady eyes, “they are not traditionally cute,” says MacDonald, “but they’re super weird.” They have naked, round ears and a long, rat-like prehensile tail, which aids in climbing. No wonder they’re so often mistaken for rats of unusual size!

But that’s where the similarities between the opossum and rodent end. As marsupials, opossums can carry up to 13 babies in their pouch. When the joeys grow too big to fit, they cling to mom’s back as she ambles along. Opossums also have an opposable “thumb” on their hind feet, which further aids their climbing forays.

And the opossum has more impressive tricks up its sleeve, or rather, in its pouch.

It’s safe to say that opossums are misunderstood here in Canada. The late mayor of Toronto Rob Ford famously waged war against them, but as with many city-dwellers, he wasn’t aware of their benefits.

Through MacDonald’s extensive observations of Toronto’s urban critters, she’s discovered that the opossum has found its niche. “Raccoons are by far the pushiest of the urban animals to share our cities,” she says. “ smart enough to know their place, and they have adapted to find their own spot in an already crowded urban ecosystem.” So much for the idea that these slow-moving animals aren’t intelligent.

Opossums also offer a benefit that our urban raccoons don’t. They can digest almost anything — including a dead animal’s bones — and in doing so, they help remove dangerous pathogens from the environment.

“They eat everything,” MacDonald exclaims, “but they don’t get sick! They are really well adapted to the urban landscape, and they’re helping us out by eliminating diseases from carcasses and food waste that could otherwise be spread.

“They are ancient creatures, and they’ve been doing this for a very long time. Only now, they’re doing it in our backyards.”

Incredibly, opossums show immunity to numerous types of snake venom and their blood could hold the key to fighting snake bites around the world!

But closer to home, it’s their food preferences that set them apart.

In addition to feasting on carcasses and waste, opossums will catch and eat cockroaches, mice and rats on their nightly prowls. Their appetite for slugs, snails, toads and even snakes helps to keep most gardens pest-free. And while they may take the odd sampling of fresh fruits or vegetables, they often prefer plant material that has started to rot.

One item on the opossum’s menu is another newcomer — ticks. A warming climate has brought the insects, and Lyme disease, to our forests and grasslands. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, cases of Lyme disease in Canada jumped from 144 in 2009 up to 992 in 2016, and the number continues to climb.

Thankfully, opossums act like vacuum cleaners, killing almost 95 per cent of the ticks that try to feed on them. A single opossum could eliminate as many as 4,000 ticks in a week!

And, as an added bonus for your next trivia night: Surprise! Opossum males (like most marsupials) have a two-headed penis.

The opossum is possibly the most harmless, helpful urban creature of them all. They don’t chew or dig and they typically don’t break into your attic, says MacDonald. Instead, they use the dens of other animals and, while they’re able climbers, she notes that their paws aren’t as dextrous as the wily raccoon, so they can’t cause damage.

Opossums also tend to be transient, passing through an area for a short period before moving on. And due to their naturally low body temperature, they have a very low risk of contracting and spreading rabies.

In contrast to Rob Ford’s characterization of these animals as “vicious,” an opossum’s typical response to being threatened is possibly the most benign in the animal kingdom: they fall unconscious. Instead of biting, they simply stop, drop and “play possum,” losing consciousness for up to four hours.

“To complete the illusion,” MacDonald says, “they exude a smell like rotting meat. After a while … they jump up like nothing happened.” Vicious, indeed!

Sadly, during particularly cold periods, helpful Virginia opossums start turning up in wildlife shelters or end up dead. Their naked tails, ears and paws are susceptible to the cold and prone to frostbite.

“It can take a few hours for frostbite to develop,” says Nathalie Karvonen, executive director at the Toronto Wildlife Centre. “But we often won’t see the animal suffering until they’re in worse shape after a few days. So it’s during the extended periods of deep freeze that we see more animals coming into the Centre.”

The Centre receives approximately 5,000 animals into their care every year, and it’s during the winter months that animals can end up in the most trouble, since wildlife isn’t usually as visible and people aren’t actively observing animals out in the cold.

MORE: These microscopic bacteria can eat up oil spills

By the time someone might actually notice an opossum with injuries, the problem has likely become more serious. “Opossums don’t normally hang out in the open where they can be seen,” says Karvonen. “If you notice one sitting out in the open for a long period of time, it’s likely that it’s in trouble.”

Karvonen’s says to keep an eye out for opossums behaving strangely. “They will freeze if you approach, so if there’s one sitting out in the cold on the fence and doesn’t move on after you leave, that’s likely the time to call your local wildlife rehabber or vet clinic for advice.”

Another way to be “opossum friendly” during the winter is by not evicting them. “If they’ve found a warm spot, consider leaving them be until the spring,” suggests Karvonen. “They won’t chew anything or cause damage, and in the spring, they’ll move out on their own.”