FRIENDS
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NATURE
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Winter Issue 2005
A Quarterly Publication
Species Profile
Virginia Opossum – Didelphis virginiana
The solitary Virginia Opossum, or Possum as it is better know, is at the northern edge of it’s range in the southern half of Michigan. This species of Opossum is found only in the United States and southern Canada with a subspecies in Michigan. This is the only marsupial or “pouched” mammal that can survive the northern climate. The name Opossum is from the Algonquian name, which was spelled by the early colonists as apasum. The specific name virginiana, refers to the state in which the animal was first found and recorded. Opossums are mostly nocturnal, but can also be seen out on sunny winter days.
The Opossum is very adaptable to different habitats, but prefers hardwoods with streams near by and seems to like to forage along marshes and swamps. They have also adapted very well in urban and farming areas. The do not excavate their own dens, but use those dug
by other animals. They eat a wide variety of plants and animals, nearly anything it can find.
The somewhat heavyset body of the grayish animal averages 17 inches in length with the tail averaging 12.5 inches in length. The tapering tail, which becomes hairless and scaled away from the body can be shorten due to frostbite, as can the small rounded ears. The head is elongated and can be a yellowish color with a pointed snout, long whiskers and a pink nose. The back main body is covered with course long white hairs which are tipped in black and the under side is covered with a grayish wooly hair. The Opossum has flat feet with five toes, each one clawed except the first toe of the hind feet. The Opossum does not maintain a constant body temperature; rather the temperature fluctuates with the surrounding climate.
The female has a fur lined pouch on the abdomen for carrying
