HABITS OF THE OPOSSUM. 395 



travel through crooked bye-ways, instead of following the open road, and so blunder them- 

 selves stupidly and sinuously into needless peril, from which their craftiness sometimes extri- 

 cates them, it is true, but not without much anxiety and apprehension. 



When captured it is easily tamed, and falls into the habit of domestication with great ease. 

 It is, however, not very agreeable as a domestic companion, as it is gifted with a powerful 

 and very unpleasant odor, which emanates from its person with great force, whenever the ani- 

 mal is irritated or excited. 



The nest of the Opossum is always made in some protected situation, such as the hollow 

 of a fallen or a standing tree, or under the shelter of some old projecting roots. In forming an 

 appropriate receptacle for her young, the Opossum is assisted by her fore-feet, which are well 

 adapted for digging. The nest itself is composed of long moss and various dried leaves. 

 Sometimes the creature has been known to usurp the domicile of some other animal, not 

 without suspicion of having previously devoured the rightful owner. On one occasion a hunter 

 sent a rifle-ball through a squirrel's nest, which was placed at some forty feet from the 

 ground, and was surprised to see an Opossum fall dead on the ground. This creature has 

 also been known to possess itself of the warm nest of the Florida rat. 



When the young of the Opossum are born, they are transferred by the mother to her 

 cradle-pouch, where they remain for some weeks. From repeated experiments that have been 

 made on this animal, it is found that the transfer is made on the fifteenth day after the young 

 have been called into existence, and that at that period they only weigh four grains, their total 

 length being under an inch, the tail included. Their number is from thirteen to fifteen. 

 After they are placed in the pouch their growth is wonderfully rapid, for in seven days they 

 have gained so much substance as to weigh thirty grains ; and even at this early period of their 

 existence their tails exhibit the prehensile capacity, and are often found coiled round each 

 other's bodies. In four weeks the little Opossums have gained sufficient strength to put 

 their heads out of the pouch, and at the end of the fifth week they are able to leave it 

 entirely for a short time. 



Very great trouble was required in order to ascertain these particulars, as it was found 

 that the Opossum was in the habit of hiding herself in her den until she had placed her young 

 in the pouch, so that it was needful to search the cavity for these concealed females, and to 

 watch their proceedings by night and day, without intermission. 



There are one or two circumstances in connection with this subject that are well worthy 

 of attention. 



The young Opossums are not, as has been often asserted, mere helpless lumps of animated 

 substances, without sense or power of determinate action, but are wonderfully active in pro- 

 portion to their minute size and their undeveloped state. If placed upon a table, 

 they can crawl about its surface, and are sufficiently hardy to retain life for several 

 hours after their removal from the warm cradle in which their tender bodies were shielded 

 from harm, and the maternal fount which poured a constant stream of nourishment into their 

 tiny systems. 



Another singular circumstance is, that when they are first placed in the pouch, they are 

 blind and deaf, the eyes and ears being closed, and not opened until many days have elapsed. 

 With partial blindness at the time of birth we are all familiar in the persons of kittens, 

 puppies, and other little animals, but that the tender young of the Opossum should be deaf 

 as well as blind, is truly singular. It appears that in the case of the kitten or puppy, the 

 presence of light and the action of the atmosphere are needed in order to withdraw the 

 obstacles that obstruct the sense of vision. In the young Opossum, however, it seems that 

 the action of the atmosphere is needed in order to render the ears sensitive to the sounds that 

 are transmitted through its mediumship, but that in most cases the little creature requires the 

 absence of light until the time comes for it to open its eyes as well as its ears. 



What length of time elapses between the period of transmission into the pouch and the 

 several opening of eyes and ears is not, I believe, as yet clearly ascertained, and would furnish 

 an interesting subject for investigation. I would also suggest that the blood of the young 

 animal be carefully examined in three of its stages, viz., just before it is born, immediately 



