THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM. 
HE crab-eating opossum (Phélan- 
der philander) 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 sufficiently 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 
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 anyone not acquainted 
with its habits, the open jaws, the ex- 
them for the | 
59 
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 @ 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 Brrps AND ALL NATURE was 
captured, with its mother and five 
young ones, ina 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. 
