When you think of opossums, visions of dirty, pesky creatures rummaging through trash cans might come to mind. However, these creatures are much more intelligent and beneficial to our ecosystem than we give them credit for. Wildlife Spotlight: Opossums, It’s time to shed some light on these misunderstood marsupials by discussing some interesting facts about opossums.
1. Solitary Creatures:
Opossums are known to be solitary creatures, and they often roam around alone in the night. This is because they are not territorial and don’t like to be around other opossums. However, during their mating season (between January and June), they might get together to reproduce. Other than that, they prefer solitude.
2. Babies:
Baby opossums are born without hair, sight, or mobility. It takes them a lot of effort to make their way up through their mother’s fur and into her pouch, where they continue to develop for about 70 days. The mother opossum might have as many as 25 offspring, but she has only 13 nipples. The first 13 seek out and attach themselves to a nipple and continue to feed and grow. The remaining ones do not survive.
3. Diet:
Opossums are omnivores and can eat almost anything. They feed on insects, fruits, nuts, carrion and even garbage. One interesting fact about their diet is that they particularly like ticks – they consume around 5,000 ticks per season. This means they play an important role in reducing the spread of Lyme disease.
4. Venom Resistance:
Opossums possess unique proteins in their blood that makes them resistant to most snake venom. This discovery played a significant role in the development of antivenins for people who experience a venomous snake bite, saving many lives globally.
5. Rabies:
Opossums might look scary and aggressive, but they are not known to be carriers of rabies. The body temperature of the opossum makes it difficult for the rabies virus to survive in their system, eliminating the chances of transmission of the virus to humans, pets or other wildlife.
6. Playing Possum:
Opossums are known for their innate defense mechanism where they play dead when they feel threatened by predators, and this is called “playing possum”. This involuntary catatonic state makes the opossum look like it is dead, but it is just a reflex, allowing it to go unnoticed by the predator.
Opossums offer huge benefits to the ecosystem, and understanding their traits better can make for a more peaceful co-existence between humans and these helpful creatures. They help in reducing the spread of lethal diseases, play a role in controlling pests and insects, and they are not harmful to humans since they do not transmit rabies. If you happen to have a need for opossum relocation, contact Pee Dee Wildlife Control. We hope learning more about the opossum helps you appreciate these misunderstood marsupials of North America.