44 THE POUCHED ANIMALS 



These have a soft membrane between the fore and hind 

 pair of legs, which spreads out as they leap and serves as 

 a parachute. Some are as large as cats, and all are mild- 

 eyed, attractive little creatures. The young are carried 

 in a pouch, and later are seen upon the back of the 

 mother. 



The only marsupial found out of Australia is the 

 opossum. It is about twenty inches in length and is 

 covered with white hair tipped with brown, giving it a 

 dirty appearance. The tail, which is long and slender, is 

 really a fifth limb, being prehensile, or having the faculty 

 of winding about a limb and swinging from it with perfect 

 ease. ** Playing 'possum " is a familiar term and applies 

 to a trick the animal has of feigning death, often remain- 

 ing motionless though pushed and even tortured. 



The pouch is well developed, the ears are naked like 

 those of a bat, the tail is long and scaly like that of a rat. 

 To appreciate its resemblance to a fifth hand one must 

 see an old opossum walking along, its tail thrown over its 

 back (Fig. 31), and five or six young ones clinging to it, 

 each little tail wound about the large one. The young 

 when born are perfectly helpless and about half an inch 

 in length. They sometimes number as many as thirteen. 

 They are placed in the pouch, each one attaching itself to 

 the mammary gland and retaining its position for several 

 weeks. For the first two weeks the pouch is kept closed. 

 In six weeks the young opossums have attained the size of 

 mice, but they do not leave the pouch for two months. 



The opossum is a night animal, sleeping during the day. 

 It forms its nest in a tree trunk, Hning the hollow with 

 grasses. 



