THE CRA.B-EATING OPOSSUM. 



THPL crab-eating opossum {Philafi- 

 cier philoTider) is one of the 

 largest of the family. The 

 body is nine and one-half 

 inches long, and the tail nearly thirteen 

 inches. It has a wide range, extending 

 throughout all of tropical America. It 

 is numerous in the woods of Brazil, 

 preferring the proximity of swamps, 

 which furnish it with crabs. It lives 

 almost exclusively in trees, and de- 

 scends to the ground only when it 

 wishes to forage. 



While it proceeds slowly and awk- 

 wardly on the ground, its prehensile 

 tail enables it to climb trees with some 

 facility. This opossum readily entraps 

 smaller mammals; reptiles, and insects, 

 and especially crabs, which are its 

 favorite food. It preys upon birds and 

 their nests, but it also eats fruit, and is 

 said to visit poultry yards and to cause 

 great devastation among chickens and 

 pigeons. 



The young of the crab-eating opos- 

 sum differ in color from the old ani- 

 mals. They are completely naked at 

 birth, but when they are suf^ciently de- 

 veloped to leave the pouch, they grow 

 a short, silky fur of a shining nut- 

 brown color, which gradually deepens 

 into the dark brownish-black color of 

 maturity. All observers agree that the 

 little creatures escape from the pouch 

 and, moving around and upon the 

 mother's body, afford a charming spec- 

 tacle. The pouch is formed by two 

 folds of skin, which are laid over the un- 

 formed young attached to the mammae. 

 The opossum is extensively hunted 

 on account of the havoc it works among 

 poultry. 



The negroes are its enemies, and kill 

 it whenever and wherever they can. 

 The flesh is said to be unpalatable to 

 most white persons, for two glands im- 

 parc a very strong and repellent odor 

 of garlic to it, but the negroes like it, 

 and the flesh repays them for the 

 trouble of the pursuit. The opossum, 

 however, is not easily killed, and re- 

 sorts to dissimulation when hard 

 pressed, rolls up like a ball, and feigns 

 to be dead. To an\one not acquainted 

 with its habits, the open jaws, the ex- 



tended tongue, the dimmed eyes would 

 be ample confirmation of it, but the 

 experienced observer knows that it is 

 only " 'possuming," and that as soon 

 as the enemy withdraws it will grad- 

 ually get on its legs and make for the 

 woods. 



It is said that the opossum was for- 

 merly found in Europe, but now only 

 inhabits America. Nearly all of the 

 species live in the forest or in the un- 

 derbrush, making their homes in hol- 

 low trees, holes in the ground, among 

 thick grass and in bushes. All are 

 nocturnal in their habits and lead a 

 solitary, roving life. The opossum 

 lives with its mate only during the 

 pairing time. It has no fixed habita- 

 tion. In captivity it is the least inter- 

 esting of animals. Rolled up and mo- 

 tionless, it lies all day, and only when 

 provoked does it make the slightest 

 movement. It opens its mouth as wide 

 as possible, and for as long a time as 

 one stands before it, as if it suffered 

 from lockjaw. 



The opossum can hardly be classed 

 among the game animals of America, 

 yet its pursuit in the South in old plan- 

 tation days used to afford the staple 

 amusement for the dusky toilers of the 

 cotton states. It was the custom, as 

 often as the late fall days brought with 

 them the ripened fruit and golden 

 grain, for the dark population of the 

 plantation, sometimes accompanied by 

 young "massa," to have a grand 'pos- 

 sum hunt a la mode. We would de- 

 scribe the method of taking it, were it 

 the policy of this magazine to show ap- 

 proval of a most cruel practice. Hap- 

 pily the custom, through change of 

 circumstances, has fallen into disuse. 



The specimen of this interesting 

 animal which we present in this num- 

 ber of Birds and All Nature was 

 captured, with its mother and five 

 young ones, in a car load of bananas, 

 having traveled all the way from the 

 tropics to Chicago in a crate of the 

 fruit. The mother and young were 

 kept alive by eating the bananas, an- 

 other proof that the crab-eating opos- 

 sum does not feed exclusively upon 

 animal food. 



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