98 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



attention of the tyro the first time a specimen of the 

 animal is examined. And, in helping itself to food be 

 its nature what it may it sometimes holds onto its rest- 

 ing-limb by means of its tail, while it employs these 

 hand-like hind paws in manipulating the morsels it passes 

 to its capacious maw. Being, as has been said, quite 

 nocturnal in its habits, the opossum will spend most of 

 the day curled up in some burrow, hollow log or stump, 

 or even secreted in the dense foliage of some tree or 

 other. Nevertheless, the old fellow will sometimes steal 

 out in broad daylight although more likely on a gray 

 day for a prowl about the woods, the orchard, or the 

 hen-yard. On such occasions he will, in a sluggish way, 

 climb among the limbs of trees ; and should he spy some 

 birds' nest, containing a clutch of dainty blue and speckled 

 eggs, he will, without any compunction, swing himself 

 down by the tail and deliberately rob the rightful owner 

 of its treasures, picking them out, one at a time, and 

 devouring them, still swinging by his handy tail, and 

 suspended in midair. Sometimes he will surprise and 

 capture some unhappy squirrel in its hole. Seizing his 

 struggling victim, he will bite it in the back of its neck 

 as quickly as he would a hapless chicken on its roost 

 in the night-time .devouring it with evident relish. Liz- 

 ards and many insects meet with the same fate when he 

 can capture them ; and it is said that, when in a tight 

 place and deprived of food for any length of time per- 

 haps facing starvation he will, rather than succumb to 

 such a fate, eat his own young, or even gnaw off his own 

 tail and toes, making a meal of them. 



Although often savage, cross, and snarly, the opossum 

 nevertheless enjoys its playtimes. Two old fellows will 

 frequently engage in a regular romp, rolling over each 



other, tugging away with their tails, yanking at each 

 other's fur with all four paws, and biting each other in 

 fun until the operation borders close upon no make- 

 believe encounter. On a hot, sunny day, occasionally 

 one will take a notion to stretch himself out on his back 

 on a broad limb; with his tail hanging down, and his 



AN OLD OPOSSUM AT EVENTIDE. PHOTO BY THE WRITER 



Fig. 5. One can easily imagine the behavior exhibited on the part of this shy old representative of his 

 race, as he makes his way about in the long grass of the thicket in search of food. 



SKULL OF AN OLD VIRGINIA OPOSSUM, SEEN ON RIGHT SIDE 

 VIEW. PHOTO BY THE WRITER 



Fig. 6. This cut well shows the formidable set of teeth possessed by this 

 animal. Note 'how complicated the molars are, and that the canines re- 

 semble those of a small dog. 



feet resting upon his nether parts, he will lie basking 

 in the sun for an hour or more at a time. 



The old female opossum, which with her young the 

 writer once had in his possession, fed sparingly upon 

 raw flesh of various kinds, and would drink about a 

 pint of milk in the course of twenty- four hours, her 

 repast being generally indulged in at night. She did 

 not appear to be very solicitous 

 of her young, and made barely 

 any resistance when one picked 

 them up to examine them. Fre- 

 quently she would roll partly up 

 into a ball ; then, when one of 

 her young was taken from her, 

 she simply gave vent to a kind of 

 guttural hiss, accompanied by a 

 sort of a grin. Shortly after 

 coming into the writer's posses- 

 sion, she killed one of her brood 

 through carelessness, I believe 

 while one or two more fell 

 into the drinking water or milk 

 and were drowned. She did not 

 seem to care very much, nor did 

 she, apparently, make any at- 

 tempt to rescue them. Her 

 young, when fully as large as 

 small rats, would nurse her many 

 times a day, sometimes three or 

 four of them attaching them- 

 selves to her teats at the same 

 time, sprawling over each other, 

 some being inside her pouch, 



