Opossum

“ THE opossum is an animal of America, which is easily distinguished from all others by two singular characters; first, the female has under the belly a large cavity where she receives [230] and suckles her young; secondly, both male and female have no claws on the great toes of the hind feet, which is separated from the others, as the thumb on the human hand, whilst all the other toes are armed with crooked claws, like the feet of other quadrupeds. The first of these characters has been observed by most travellers and naturalists, but the second had escaped their observation. ”

“ In the popular mind, the generation of no animal is so shrouded in mystery as that of the opossum. Throughout the country, among both whites and negroes, deeply rooted tradition has it that the opossum copulates through the nose and that the female blows the fruit of conception into the pouch. ”

“ An extreme love for its numerous offspring is an eminent trait of the opossum. The mother does not, like many human mothers, leave her children alone, or in the streets, or with a nurse, while she goes visiting, shopping, or feasting. She always takes the children with her, and is never happy unless her furry brood is close beside her.
The largest and best known of all the opossum tribe is the Virginia opossum, a common variety in many parts of North America. Although it is of too nervous and irritable a disposition to be made a pet, it frequently lives in towns. ”

“ It is certain, that our opossum, which is the true one of America, has no claws to his toes behind; if an animal with sharp claws did exist, such as is represented by Seba, it could not be, as he asserts, the opossum of America. ”

“ Opossums are ugly creatures, and this one was no better than the rest. Her nose was long and sharp, her legs short and fat, and her tail, which was nearly the length of her whole body, was quite naked. Underneath, she had a pouch like a kangaroo.
When she had got rid of her thirteen children, the old opossum stood still and stared straight up into a tall pawpaw, where the birds were fluttering and screaming more wildly than ever; every now and then making a dive down to the opossum, who took no notice of their proceedings. ”

“ The first thing to be done is to ascertain that the opossum has really concealed itself somewhere in the tree. To discover this the holes made by the nails of the animal in the bark as it climbed up, are sufficient; only, one of these footmarks having a little sand in it is anxiously sought for, and if this sand sticks together, when the hunter blows gently upon it, it is a proof, since it is not dry enough yet to blow away, that the opossum has gone up into the tree that very morning. ”

“ The opossum is a voracious and destructive animal, prowling about during the hours of darkness and prying into every nook and corner in hope of finding something that may satisfy the cravings of imperious hunger. ”

“ Opossum hunting is pursued either by day or during a moonlight night. A stranger cannot but be favourably impressed with regard to the quickness of a native in discovering whether or not an opossum has ascended a tree. The savage carelessly walks up to some massive trunk which he thinks bears a suspicious appearance, his hands are placed thoughtlessly behind his back, whilst his dark eye glances over the bark; suddenly it is for one moment stationary, and he looks eagerly at the tree, for he has detected the holes made by the nails of an opossum in its ascent ”

“ Those that feigned death usually maintained the deception for not more than two or three minutes after a person had moved away out of sight. The opossum first raised its head and sniffed, listened, and looked about cautiously for a short time, with body and limbs still relaxed in the feigning posture. ”

“ It is said that the opossum was formerly found in Europe, but now only inhabits America. Nearly all of the species live in the forest or in the underbrush, making their homes in hollow 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 habitation. In captivity it is the least interesting of animals. Rolled up and motionless, it lies all day, and only when provoked does it make the slightest movement. ”

“ 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 opossum differ in color from the old animals. They are completely naked at birth, but when they are sufficiently developed 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. ”

“ The opossum is common in and near small towns and cultivated areas at the Pacific base of the mountain range and does not thrive away from human habitation; extensive trapping in the coastal sage and chaparral belts produced no specimens except immediately adjacent to citrus groves. ”

“ The opossum is not a grass-eating animal. It will eat white or red clover, sweetbrier shoots and seeds, but if an opossum is caged and fed on grass it will die of starvation. Also, if it were fed on turnips it would take as much to feed twelve opossums as one sheep would eat. When I and my brother were catching opossums for the Southland Acclimatization Society we fed them on carrots, boiled wheat, bread, boiled tea-leaves with sugar, and anything sweet. The damage the opossums would do running at large would be very little, seeing that they never come on to open country. ”

“ Then Merian's opossum, in which the marsupial pouch is not developed, has a most curious way of carrying its young about, for the little ones stand in a row on their mother's back, with their tiny tails coiled tightly round hers, to prevent them from falling off. And the yapock opossum spends most of its life in the water, and lives upon fish, being such an excellent swimmer that it is able easily to overtake them. ”

“ Opossums were found to have little inclination to follow beaten trails, either their own or those of other animals. A foraging opossum moved about in an extremely circuitous and erratic route, seldom taking more than a few steps without a change of direction, and frequently crossing its own course in a series of loops, some only a few feet or a few inches in diameter. ”

“ In general, opossums are unsocial but not intolerant in their behavior. In the present study numerous individuals of both sexes and various sizes and ages were found to be occupying the same area simultaneously, with overlapping but no exact correspondence in home ranges. Occasionally two or more opossums may use the same den, but each goes its own way on its foraging and it seems that no sociability is involved. ”

“ Its food consists chiefly of insects, although small reptiles, birds, and bird's eggs are eaten. When ready to bear young the opossum makes a nest of dried grass in the hollow of a tree, and produces about thirteen very small (half an inch long) helpless creatures. These are then placed by the mother in her pouch. Here they remain until two months or more after birth. Probably all the North American opossums found from New York to California and especially common in the Southern States belong to a single species, but there is much variety among the individuals. ”

“ So powerful is this member that the opossum can hold on with it to the bough of a tree, and even when desperately wounded it does not let go. Its face is long and sharpened, the mouth very determined, and armed with numerous sharp teeth. ”

“ Some are both carnivorous and insectivorous, and are therefore armed with powerful canines, and with molars like those of the hedgehog. Others are herbivorous, like hares, and have almost the jaws of a rodent. Among the former we have the opossum, celebrated by Florian in one of his prettiest fables. The opossum inhabits South America. Charming little marsupials are to be found in the Molucca Isles, whence come the nutmeg and the clove; these are very like our squirrels, and live as they do, in trees, hunting after fruit and insects. ”

“ Other authors, and especially the nomenclators, who have multiplied beings without necessity, have here fallen into numerous errors respecting this animal.
Our opossum, described by Tyson, is the same animal as the oriental philandre of Seba, since of all the animals which Seba has described, and to which he gave the name of philandre, opossum, or carigueya, this is the only one who has a bag under the belly, and thumbs without claws behind. This animal is a native [231] of the warm climates of the new world; for the two we have in the king’s cabinet came from America. ”

“ The opossum, the only native marsupial of the United States, is about twenty inches long, exclusive of the peculiar rat-like, prehensile tail, by which the animal often suspends itself from the branches of trees. When in danger, it feigns death as a way of escape—and can survive injuries that would be fatal to most animals. ”

“ There are numerous species of opossum, most of them marsupial, in the Brazils, where they take the place of the shrews of Europe. They are very destructive to poultry. One of the species is aquatic, and has webbed feet. ”

“ These have each five toes, and on the hind feet the large toes are without nails, and are set thumb-like in opposition to the other four, so that these hind feet are really strong and supple hands.
Finally, the opossum is distinguished by the large number of its progeny. A cow marches about followed by a single calf; a sheep but seldom has twin lambs; the lion never has more than two whelps; but the prolific opossum goes skipping around with fifteen or sixteen little furry children gambolling after her, or thrusting their sharp noses from her warm pouch. ”

“ The common opossum is about as big as a cat. But it looks much more like a very big rat, for its tail is long and scaly. It is found in North America. In South America there is a different species, called the crab-eating opossum, because it is so fond of the crabs and crayfishes which abound in the salt creeks and the great swamps of Brazil. ”

“ Opossum hunting by moonlight, excepting in the beauty of the spectacle, offers no feature different from what I have above described; the dusky forms of the natives moving about in the gloomy woods and gazing up into the trees to detect an animal feeding, whilst in the distance natives with firesticks come creeping after them, is a picturesque sight, and it is also pretty to see the dark body of the native against the moonlight as he climbs the tree, forcing the poor opossum to retreat to the very end of some branch, whence he is shaken off or knocked down with a stick. ”

“ They follow the opossum as quick as lightning, until the poor creature is driven to the ground. Then, of course, he is captured easily, as his clumsy movements prevent him from running at any great speed—all {122} his powers of swinging by his tail are lost when he gets on the ground. ”

“ An opossum being followed would almost invariably take refuge in a tree if it caught sight of the observer. Other information regarding the animal's habits was obtained from tracks in snow or soft soil and from the distribution and contents of scats. Carcasses of opossums which had fallen victim to predators were found on a few occasions and in some instances clues as to the identity of the predator were obtained. One hundred and seventeen opossums were live-trapped and handled a total of 276 times. ”

“ The old writer, Lawson, gives as succinct an account of the habits of the best known species—the Virginia opossum—as may be found anywhere. We shall adopt it verbatim:—“The possum,” says he, “is found nowhere but in America. She is the wonder of all the land animals—being of the size of a badger, and near that colour. The female, doubtless, breeds her young at her teats, for I have seen them stuck fast thereto when they have been no bigger than a small raspberry, and seemingly inanimate. ”

“ In South America the opossum seems to fill the place of an insect eater, occupied in other countries by the true insectivora,—the hedge-hog, mole, and shrew. Probably in countries where they are plentiful, the opossum eats more insects than all other insect eaters put together. Its teeth are provided with numerous little points which enable them to grind, as in a mill, the horny bodies of insects.
Young birds, and young barn-yard fowls, eggs, such little [Pg 180] animals as mice, moles, toads, and the young of rabbits and hares, tempt the appetite of the opossum, who is a general depredator. ”

“ The opossum belongs to the south parts of the new world, but he does not, like the armadillo, seem confined to the hottest climates, for he is found not only in Brasil, Guiana, and Mexico, but also in Florida, Virginia, and other temperate regions of this continent. ”

“ A fourth specimen, which has been disturbed by another, is pausing to protest with widely opened mouth, while in the act of creeping into the mouth of the burrow.
Please notice the number of facts that are taught by this simple little group. It shows that the opossum is a marsupial, and the female carries her young in a pouch in her own body; that when the young reach a certain age, they ride upon the mother's back, clinging to her fur; that the animal is arboreal in habit, and has a prehensile tail, by which it is capable of suspending itself ”