Details
Didelphis virginiana
The Virginia opossum is a widespread North American marsupial. It forages alone at night and adapts well to forests, farms, and cities.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits Nearctic and Neotropical forests, grasslands, and urban edges. Brush, water, hollow spaces, and food-rich human landscapes are all used.
Length 33-50 cm; weight 1.9-6.4 kg. A pale face, coarse grey fur, and long naked tail are distinctive. The tail can help grip branches.
Nocturnal and solitary, it threatens with an open mouth when cornered. Under severe stress it may become immobile in a deathlike state.
An omnivore, it eats insects, fruit, carrion, small animals, and food from human areas. It changes diet readily with opportunity.
Females bear many tiny young that attach to nipples inside the pouch. Older young ride on the mother's back before independence.
It is listed as Least Concern. Its ability to live around people and its famous feigned-death response make it a familiar species.
