448 



POUCHED ANIMALS 



hensile tail, which is not quite so long as its body. There 

 are five toes on each foot, possessing long and sharp claws, 

 except in the case of the right foot, the inner toe of which 

 is an opposable thumb without a claw. It is thus well 

 fitted for life among the trees, around the branches of which 

 it can twist its tail for additional security, or especially when 

 its claws are partly occupied while devouring its prey. 



The muzzle of the Opossum is long and pointed ; the 

 mouth is wide and fitted with fifty teeth, with which to 

 grind up its varied provender of leaves, tender shoots, and 

 berries, insects, lizards, eggs, and birds. In the case of the 

 last named the animal only sucks the blood and does not 



SKELETON OF THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM. 



eat the flesh. Its appetite is insatiable, and it is an annoy- 

 ance to the fruit-grower, and a positive pest to the poultry 

 farmer. While eating, it frequently uses all four feet as 

 hands, twisting its tail round a branch and trusting alone 

 to it for support. 



There are usually a dozen or more young ones at a birth. 

 They are blind and naked, and the little immature creatures 

 cling to the mother's teats so firmly that they can only be 

 moved by violence. In less than a week they leave the 

 pouch, scampering back to their retreat at the least alarm. 

 When thus sheltering her young the mother will suffer any 

 torture rather than allow the pouch to be opened. 



No other mammal, not even the fox, can surpass the 



