Opossums: 7 Fascinating Facts About These Marsupials
Quick Reference: Opossum Facts
- What they are: the Virginia opossum is the only marsupial native to North America north of Mexico.
- Playing possum: not an act. It is an involuntary reaction, like fainting, that can last up to four hours.
- Tough customers: largely immune to rabies and to venom from cottonmouths and rattlesnakes.
- Babies: called joeys, born the size of a honeybee, and they ride on mom’s back for about 100 days.
- Good neighbors: docile, unlikely to carry disease, and they eat insects, rodents, and carrion.
Opossums get a bad name as unwelcome invaders in the garage and as creepy-looking visitors that turn up on the porch after dark. They may not be the prettiest animals in the yard, and some folks go so far as to call them ugly, but they earn their keep and they are worth a second look. Here are a few opossum facts (and yes, the “o” is silent) that may change your mind before you shoo the next one off your property.
Opossum Facts:
Opossums Are the Only Known North American Marsupial
Outside of Mexico, the Virginia opossum is the only marsupial known to live in North America. Other opossum species turn up in different parts of the world, but this is the one you will meet in the United States and Canada. Marsupials are a small class of animals that carry and nurse their young in a pouch. Kangaroos, wombats, and koalas are the famous members of the club, and the opossum is their North American cousin.
Their range keeps creeping north. Once a mostly Southern animal, the Virginia opossum has spread up the East Coast and into the Great Lakes and southern Canada as winters have eased. The Missouri Department of Conservation notes in its Virginia opossum field guide that these adaptable animals will settle in almost anywhere with food, water, and cover, which is why they do so well around barns, sheds, and backyards.
Opossums Are Incredibly Agile
If you have ever watched an opossum amble across the yard, it can look like a clumsy little critter. Do not be fooled. Opossums are world-class tree climbers, built for it with sharp claws, opposable thumbs on their hind feet, and a prehensile tail that grips trunks and branches like a fifth hand. They love trees so much that they often bed down in tree hollows.
The Indestructible Opossum?
Opossums are not indestructible, but they do carry some hefty natural defenses. They are largely immune to rabies, though it can occur in rare cases, thanks in part to a body temperature that runs too low for the virus to thrive. They are also largely immune to the venom of snakes like cottonmouths and rattlesnakes, a trait researchers have traced to a protein in their blood. That combination makes the humble opossum tougher than it looks.
Opossums Make Strange Sounds
You have probably never heard an opossum, because they keep quiet most of the time. They do have a few distinctive calls, though. Young opossums make a sneezing sound or a soft “choo choo” to call out to their mother, and she answers with a clicking noise. Males make that same clicking sound during mating season. And when an opossum feels cornered, it may hiss or growl to warn you off.
“Playing ‘Possum” Isn’t Make Believe
An opossum has several ways to defend itself, including growling, belching, and urinating when threatened. Its most famous trick is “playing ‘possum,” which looks like playing dead. Here is the surprise: the opossum is not pretending. It is an involuntary reaction, closer to fainting, that leaves the animal rigid. In that state it may bare its teeth, foam at the mouth, and release a foul-smelling fluid from glands near its tail to mimic sickness. Once it goes catatonic, an opossum can stay that way for up to four hours, which is long enough to convince a predator that its meal has already gone bad.
Baby Opossums Are Cute, and a Little Weird!
Baby opossums are called joeys, just like baby kangaroos, and at birth they are only about the size of a honeybee. The newborns crawl to their mother’s pouch, where they stay for two to three months. All told, the young ride along with mom for about 100 days, and as they grow they venture out of the pouch more and more. Rather than wander off on their own, they often hitch a ride, clinging to their mother’s back while she scavenges, as you can see in the video below.
Take a look at this fascinating video of a mother opossum carrying her babies on her back!
Do Opossums Really Eat Ticks?
For years the opossum was praised as a walking tick vacuum. Early lab research suggested a single animal might eat thousands of ticks in a week, and the number spread far and wide. That idea has since been called into question. Later fieldwork that looked at what wild opossums actually eat found ticks were rarely on the menu, so the tick-vacuum claim has been largely disproved.
That does not make the opossum useless in tick country. By eating insects, slugs, and small rodents that do carry ticks, an opossum still earns a spot in the yard. If you are fighting ticks around the house, lean on methods that are proven to work, like our roundup of natural tick remedies and these tips to keep ticks off your dogs and cats.
Are Opossums a Threat to Pets and Chickens?
For most households, an opossum is no threat at all. They are docile by nature and would far rather amble away than pick a fight, so they are unlikely to bother a dog or cat. The one place they cause real trouble is the coop. Opossums have been known to go after chickens and eggs, so if you keep backyard chickens or other small farm animals, it is worth locking them up at night when opossums get active. A secure latch and a covered run do most of the work.
Around the garden, they tend to help more than they hurt. Opossums clean up fallen fruit, snails, slugs, and the same rodents you would rather not host, which puts them on the same team as your other efforts to keep pests out of the garden naturally.
Should You Welcome Opossums to Your Yard?
Opossums are so often misunderstood, but they are good creatures to have around. They are docile, unlikely to threaten pets, and unlikely to carry disease. It was once believed that they ate ticks, and while that has since been disproved, they still eat insects, rodents, and dead animals that would otherwise pile up. That cleanup work alone makes them a welcome sight in the back yard, not a pest to be run off. Just remember to shut the coop, and let the rest of the yard work go to the night shift.
Opossum Facts: Frequently Asked Questions
Are opossums dangerous to people or pets?
Not usually. Opossums are docile and would rather retreat than fight, so they rarely threaten people, dogs, or cats. They are also largely immune to rabies, which makes them an unlikely carrier. Give one space and it will move along on its own.
Do opossums really eat ticks?
Probably far fewer than you have heard. Early lab research suggested one opossum could eat thousands of ticks a week, but later fieldwork on wild opossums found ticks were rarely in their diet, so that claim has been largely disproved. They still help by eating insects and rodents. For tick control that works, see our guide to natural tick remedies.
Why do opossums play dead?
“Playing ‘possum” is an involuntary reaction to extreme fear, closer to fainting than acting. The animal goes rigid, may bare its teeth and foam at the mouth, and releases a foul-smelling fluid to seem sick or dead. It can stay in that state for up to four hours, which convinces most predators to leave a spoiled meal alone.
Is the opossum really the only marsupial in North America?
Yes. North of Mexico, the Virginia opossum is the only marsupial native to North America. Like kangaroos, wombats, and koalas, it carries and nurses its young in a pouch. Other opossum species live elsewhere in the world, but this is the one found across the United States and into southern Canada.
How big are baby opossums?
Newborn opossums, called joeys, are about the size of a honeybee. They crawl to their mother’s pouch and stay for two to three months, then ride on her back for a total of about 100 days before striking out on their own.
Will an opossum go after my chickens?
It can. Opossums have been known to raid coops for chickens and eggs, especially at night. Lock up backyard chickens and other small farm animals after dark with a secure latch and a covered run. Do that, and an opossum is far more likely to hunt the rodents near your coop than the birds inside it.
Amber Kanuckel
Amber Kanuckel is a freelance writer from rural Ohio who loves all things outdoors. She specializes in home, garden, environmental, and green living topics.
- Amber Kanuckel
- Amber Kanuckel
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I caught one in the cat food bag in the garage tonight and it let me pet it gently without any sign of aggression or sickness. I wish I could get a baby opossum.
Continuation of my winter in IL, opossums in feral cat shelters. I had 3 cat shelters and 3 opossums. The 2 cats never used them but they were there in case, past years. It was so interesting, they rotated the bins I guess thinking they were not spending all their time in one spot. Anyway the shelters do have several inches of straw, a tarp wind block and a parson table outside each one covered by a tarp so the opening to the insulated bins are protected and dry from any snow and wind. The blankets were actually quilts that I checked daily. At first I was so afraid of parasites that I read about on other sites. These quilts never had fleas. Also they did not smell even though an opossum was wrapped in them for a week or more at a time. The only “odor” in one of them was like dog feet, not unpleasant at all like the other sites claim. Spring came and each opossum left as soon as the weather got warm. This coming winter I’m going to use old garbage cans, stuffed full with straw and keep it under the deck that is 5′ high and on top of that create a palate covering on 3 sides. I’m so glad people like opossums. I love them.
so happy to hear stories like this, people are afraid of their own shadows most times & do not like sharing their back yard, nice to know their are those that care.
Do opossums not like warm weather? We live in the valley of Northern California where our temps in summer range from 98-115 degrees. But it’s not humid. This is the first winter/spring where I’ve noticed possums in our yard at night. Now that it’s getting in the 100’s they’re still here but do you think they’ll be leaving? I like them a lot and I love our grey squirrels but I’ve heard they kill and eat the squirrel babies? Is that true?
I started reading opossum facts this year. They are fascinating. My neighbor too is a bully and doesn’t like birds, gardening, flowers, etc. I had a hole cut in my fence for the wild life to enter my yard. Anyway, I didn’t realize opossums were not really well equipped to handle the harsh IL winter. One is sleeping in one of my feral cat shelters so I check the blankets in there daily and I also leave food out for all of them every night. Today the opossum was all curled up in the blanket that it somehow got it all around it. It looked just like a blanket cup – fascinating. The shelter is insulated/wind proof and covered by a tarp so hopefully it does ok this winter. Glad to know there are other people who like opossums too.
i also love possum. just a quick fyi…add hay/straw under the blanket because the hay/straw will offer the wildlife and the feral cats more warmth. Blankets are nice and soft but out in the cold, they tend to stay frigid. the hay/straw will help retain the animals body heat and will not collect as much humidity and stay colder. I used to care for local feral cats in my backyard. I also had the insulated kennels and i bout heating pads they make for barn cats, etc. and tented them all together on my deck and somewhat insulated the tent with insulating styrofoam. Bless you for caring for them!
Joy
We closed our garage door late one night and the next morning I found a juvenile opossum curled up sleeping on the top of vegetative refuse in a five gallon bucket. It woke up and ‘grinned’ at me. Checked throughout the day and it slept just like a cat with it’s head upside down. I used to think they were ugly but seeing one up close changed that. What a little sweetheart. We waited until dusk before trying to move the bucket with a push broom. It jumped out and ran to the great outdoors. I left it a kitty crunchie pile for a snack, gone the next morning. We close the garage door before dusk now.
“kitty crunchie”? Everybody I know has always referred to what a cat leaves in the litter box as kitty crunchies.
As in “Oh lord, the dog is going after more kitty crunchies!” ?
Would a possum eat a pineapple?
Probably!
I love possums my neighbor doesn’t like wild life. She had a trapper come get two Connie’s and a possum that’s been around couple years, I’m sure it was about three. Do they dig up yards? I’ve raised a few and never had them do that. Thank you. My neighbor and I don’t see eye to eye.
Good for you. they’er one of the best and lest harmful beasties around. Pet more Opossums. No they do’t dig but armadillos do.
What is a Connie? What did you feed opossums- the ones you raised? We have 2 young ones -about 5 inches long not counting their tails- are there any flowers they shouldn’t eat? They are sure cute!
I found an orphaned baby opossum today. Thanks all full so now I have a little one to rehab. If you have any advice I’d be grateful. He’s about 6 inches long. Not eating yet. But drinking from syringe and very scared! Just released a baby squirrel I rehabbed for months so I’m hopeful for this adorable little critter.
Should say “Rehabs” are all full now!
These creatures do NOT need your help! Live and let die. Other animals are needing their carcasses to live. Circle of life, Simba.
Save Opossums kill ticks, thereby help tame and wildlife as well
That is your opinion. I have another one
Jenn, we appreciate your big heart, butyou really should call your local wildlife official rather than trying to care for them yourself. They will bring them to facilities where they can get the proper help and rehabilitation they need.
Not likely too many will just but any young down
If a cat can eat it an Opossum can. Goats milk is good. They are very cat like in habits. Also when grown the best house predator one can have. Better than a cat for mice, rats and other like squirrels. No the house wiring does not appeal to them.
I love opossums,but do they have fleas?
They can
Does opossums carry fleas.I love opossums they are cute
According to most websites, they do carry fleas as do all wild animals.