Perceptions of opossums range from good, bad, ugly
January 28, 2001

Two small opossums are visiting the bird-feeding area at the Woodland Dunes Marsh Haus off and on, during daylight hours, providing an opportunity for staff and visitors to watch them. Reactions range from "Aren't they cute!" to "Ugh."

Although considered rather stupid animals with a small brain cavity, as a species they have been around a long time.

They are the only marsupial mammal in North America. Opossums belong to the "Ancient Order of Marsupials" (pouched animals) whose best known representative is the kangaroo. Fossil finds indicate their presence back in the Mesozoic era (125 million years ago in Geologic time). They probably spread over all the continents. Eons later, still a long time ago, something exterminated all the opossums in North America. But opossums are noted travelers and about the time of the ice age reappeared in North America, wandering northward from the southern hemisphere.

Opossums have greatly increased in number in Wisconsin since 1925 and populations are still moving northward. Opossums don't like winter weather, but as they will eat almost anything they manage to survive although tails and ears often show signs of having been frozen.

Baby opossums are born bumble-bee size, so premature that eyes and ears are not yet formed and organs can be seen through the transparent skin of the body. The first trip for the newborn opossum is a hazardous one. They must climb up to the mother's pouch and grab onto a "feeding station" no larger than a pinhead and then hang on for weeks. At times there are more young than places to feed and some may die. When the young are ready to leave the pouch, the mother may carry them around on her back. Their tiny prehensile tails and toes help them to hang on for dear life. At three months they are ready to go out on their own.

The first thing a young opossum needs to do is find a new home. It knows how to get material to the nest. Gathering mouthfuls of leaves or dry grass, it pushes them under the abdomen to the prehensile tail which is curved in a loop. When enough mouthfuls have been gathered, the opossum drags the load to its nest with its tail.

The hardy youngsters at Woodland Dunes appear to have found shelter among and under long grass. They have traits unusual for opossums... they appear frequently during daylight (opossums are notoriously nocturnal) and they are frequently seen together, and their kind are characteristically loners.

Are they a pair? If so, it is early for mating time. Presently, they amble across the lawn and nearby field providing another reason to stop in at the Woodland Dunes Marsh Haus for a possible glimpse of them.