THE OPOSSUMS 



1G5 



THE OPOSSUM FAMILY. 



Didelphyidae. 



The New World contains more than twenty 

 species of omnivorous animals, varying in size 

 from a large cat to a small rat, mostly provided 

 with long, hairless tails that are fully prehensile, 

 and always well clad with fine and abundant 

 hair. In all species save a few, the female pos- 

 sesses the abdominal pouch to which every mar- 

 supial female is entitled, but in some species it is 

 either rudimentary or wholly lacking. These 

 animals are the Opossums, and while the major- 

 ity of the species are confined to South America, 

 our North American representative is about as 

 widely known as all the tropical species com- 

 bined. 



The Virginia Opossum 1 is a typical marsu- 

 pial, but differs widely from all the Australian 

 members of that Order. Seemingly it is a dull- 

 witted, slow-moving creature, and so ill-fitted by 

 Nature either to fight or to run away, that it 

 might be considered almost defenceless. But 

 let us see what use this odd little animal makes 

 of the physical and mental equipment which 

 Nature has given it. 



It eats almost everything that can be chewed, 

 — wild fruit, berries, green corn, insect larvae, 

 eggs, young birds and quadrupeds, soft-shelled 

 nuts, and certain roots. It is a good climber, 

 and has a very useful prehensile tail. It forages 

 on the ground quite as successfully as a raccoon. 

 Usually it burrows under the roots of a large 

 tree, where it is impossible for a hunter to dig it 

 out, but sometimes it makes the mistake of enter- 

 ing a hollow log. Like the bear and woodchuck, 

 it stores up under its skin a plentiful supply of 

 fat for winter use, when food is scarce and dear. 

 Above all, the female has a nice, warm pouch in 

 which to carry and protect her helpless young, 

 instead of leaving them in the nest to catch their 

 death of cold, or be eaten by some enemy. 



The young of the Opossum vary in number 

 from seven to eleven. Not until they are about 

 five weeks old do they begin to venture away 

 from the mother ; but for a season they are very 

 careful not to get beyond grabbing distance of 

 her shaggy coat. 



The Opossum is a very hairy animal. Its un- 

 der fur is woolly and white, and the outer coat 

 ' Di-del'phis vir-gin-i-an' a . 



is straight, coarse, and tipped with black. The 

 nose, lips, and half the ear are pinkish white, 

 and the eyes are like a pair of shoe-buttons. The 

 tail is naked, white, and strongly prehensile. 



A large specimen has a head-and-body length 

 of 15 inches, tail 12 inches, and the weight of a 

 large specimen is 12 pounds. In the South, the 

 flesh of this animal is much prized as food, and 

 I can testify that when properly roasted, and 

 served with nicely browned sweet potatoes and 

 yellow corn bread, it is an excellent dish. 



One habit of this animal is so remarkable and 

 so widely known it has passed into a proverb, — 



VIRGINIA OPOSSUMS. 



"playing 'Possum." When found by hunters, 

 the Opossum deliberately feigns death, hoping to 

 escape by being "left for dead." Give it a tap 

 on the head or back, and it stretches out, limp, 

 motionless, and seemingly quite dead. Its 

 breath is so short and feeble the thick fur almost 

 conceals the chest movement. 



When but a lad I killed my first Opossum in 

 an Indiana forest, and had carried it by the tail 

 for half a mile when we came to a rail fence. In 

 climbing through, I noticed that the front claws 

 of my Opossum caught on a rail, and held fast 

 in a manner highly unbecoming in an animal 

 that was honestly and sincerely dead. A close 

 examination revealed the fact that my victim 

 was only nominally dead. In other words, it 

 was fully alive, and sharply watching for a chance 

 to escape. This discovery led me to keep the 

 animal alive in confinement, until finally it did 

 escape. 



The Virginia Opossum is the species found in 

 the United States, from New York to Florida, 

 and westward through the southern States to 



