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Possum or Opossum?
Is it Possum or Opossum? - By Betty Salter
If you are talking about a North American marsupial, it is an opossum (the O is soft or silent). The possum is native to New Zealand, Australia and China and has a furry tail, while our opossum has a bare tail. This marvelous marsupial weighs in at 4 to 6 pounds and can reach a length of 24 to 36 inches, including its prehensile tail which is as long as 10 to 17 inches. The opposable thumbs on its hind feet are handy, along with the tail, for climbing. As a child I climbed into an oak tree along with my brother and some friends and there we encountered an opossum. One of the bigger boys grabbed it and we all scampered down the tree to watch it play dead. It landed at our feet, eyes half closed, stiff as a board. We all backed away and waited. Sure enough, after a while it got up and walked away. “Playing ‘possum” is an autonomic response to fear like fainting, it can last as long as four hours. During that time the anal glands emit a foul-smelling odor, the teeth are bared and drool appears around the mouth.
The opossum’s long snout and 50 sharp little teeth cause them to appear quite ferocious, but they are rather timid, merely baring their teeth and hissing in hopes the threat will leave. Opossums seen foraging in the daytime are probably not ill but are feeding longer to support their joeys. They may have as many as 13 joeys in their pouch, but it is more likely to be seven or eight. When we fi nd an opossum dead we always check for babies in their pouch. These joeys can be raised by a wildlife rehabilitation expert and released back into the wild. John Smith wrote about the “opossum,” spelling out what the native Americans said when referring to the cat-sized animal that was part of the diet in early Jamestown. The meaning of this Powhatan word is “white dog.” William Strachey, an English writer who recorded much of the English colonization of the New World, described the opossum as a “beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike.” In those days they were valued for their meat and their fur. Today we value them as an integral part of our ecosystem. Our precious opossums only live one to two years in the wild. During that time they eat thousands of ticks, insects, frogs, worms, nuts, seeds, fruit, small mammals (like mice and rats), carrion, and snakes including moccasins and rattlesnakes. Opossums are immune to snake venom as well as some diseases like rabies. The opossum is an important prey species for coyotes, bobcats, raptors, snakes, and dogs. Opossums do not dig burrows or dens. They are content to use whatever is handy, including gopher tortoise burrows. There is usually no need to trap or remove these unusual creatures. If you think you are having a problem with any animal, we have people here in TGO who will assess the problem and, when necessary, trap and remove the off ending animal at no cost to you. Please contact one of these neighbors for assistance: Sandy Juba - 321 543-0502 Betty Salter - 321 223-8073 Nancy Clark - 321 292-1434
