1 84 



THE MUSEUM. 



same extent in all species. The ears 

 are large, thin, naked and rounded. 

 The tongue is thick and rough with 

 horny papallae. The snout is long, 

 the muzzle pointed, naked and moist. 

 The females have a pouch, in which 

 they carry their young. 



The Virginia Opossum and its im- 

 mediate relations are slow and noc- 

 turnal in their habits. They live most- 

 ly on branches and in hollow trees and 

 remain torpid throughout the day. 



At night they prowl around and feed 

 on insects, eggs, birds, reptiles, and 

 small animals, adding also fruits and 

 roots to their diet. Their sense of 

 smell is of high perfection. Like the 

 English Polecat it is fond of poultry, 

 although not very lively and retreats 

 before the break of day, leaving its 

 victims behind. 



The Virginia Opossum is common in 

 many parts of North America from 

 Mexico to Massachusetts. Specimens 

 have been shot near Haverhill, Mass. 

 This is as far north as I have any re- 

 ports that I place any faith in, although 

 it may range still farther north. 



It is about the size of a common 

 house cat, being about 22 inches in 

 length from end of nose to roots of 

 tail. The tail is 1 5 inches long. The 

 under fur is deep and wooley. The 

 color of fur and hair may change as to 

 locality where taken. I simply de- 

 scribed the general color. 



The ears are large and black, mar- 

 gined on the tips with white. 



The scaled portion of the tail is of a 

 whitish tint. The general color of the 

 fur is a dirty white with a slightly yel- 

 low cast. The legs are dusky brown, 

 a tint of which surrounds the eyes. 



There is nothing pleasing in the ap- 

 pearance or habits of the Virginia 

 Opossum. In captivity I find it very 

 dull and sloathful and soon becomes 

 very fat, eating both vegetable and an- 

 imal food. 



As to cunning, it shows very little 

 when in captivity and is to my mind a 

 very uninteresting pet. 



In its wild state it suffers from both 



birds and animals, as well as from 

 man. It is hunted for its fur, fat and 

 for its flesh. Nothing to my knowl- 

 edge will awaken a southern darkey as 

 a Posum hunt, and perchance he may 

 get a skunk instead, as 1 have to my 

 sorrow more than one. 



I have noticed that as soon as the 

 Opossum discovers the approach of its 

 enemies, it hugs close to the branch 

 or gets into a crotch where two limbs 

 seperate, but if *he hunter has a good 

 coon dog he is soon discovered, and is 

 shortly shaken out or shot. But the 

 dogs have good cause to be very smart 

 or he will quickly disappear. They 

 will feign death to a remarkable de- 

 gree and even after placed in the bag 

 will sometimes not be found when the 

 hunter returns home. They even have 

 more lives than the cat, it would seem, 

 for I have shot them with charges that 

 would kill an animal three times as 

 large, and after placing them in the 

 canooe have seen them try to sneak 

 out over the gunwale when they 

 thought themselves unobserved. It 

 will, when shaken from a tree, steal 

 away and compress itself into a very 

 small space, hoping to elude capture; 

 and will also assume the attitude and 

 stillness of death. This, under the 

 shade of night, will often enable it to 

 escape the dogs. 



I have noticed that the old Opossum 

 will often be seen with its entire fam- 

 ily of youngsters on its back and they 

 to prevent a fall will have their tails 

 tightly wound around their mother's, 

 and otherwise stand on her back. She 

 will go through the branches thus laden 

 with ease, and the family seem to en- 

 joy the ride. This is, no doubt, a 

 method of the old one to land her off- 

 spring in a place of safety when danger 

 threaten them. 



Their flesh is white and they are 

 not bad eating at all. They climb 

 with great facility and will hang sus- 

 pended by their tail for considerable 

 time. They also will hang thus by 

 their tail and swing back and forth 

 and suddenly throw themselves from 



