Virginia was acquired .  When a train killed Virginia's mother it was a miracle that her six babies were still alive inside her pouch.  A little boy found the babies, put them in his pocket and took them home.  They ended up at a rehabilitation centre and four died of hypothermia, one is still alive and Virginia made it too.  Unfortunately Virginia has some physical problems and after many tests at the veterinarian we suspect she has congenital defects.  Virginia is still very young and only time will tell the outcome of her story.  In the mean time we are happy to care for her and in return she can help us to teach people about an animal of which there is so little known.

Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

Dining and Dwelling

This nocturnal animal leads an extremely opportunistic lifestyle.  They will eat whatever is available; carrion forms a large part of their diet, along with small mammals, insects, frogs, birds, eggs, fruits, vegetables and garbage.

The opossum prefers areas with cover, whether it is woodlands, farming areas or urban centres.  When in search of a den site opossums are not picky; because they are unable to dig they rely on the abandoned dens of other animals, brush piles or even open buildings. 

Life and Death

One of the most common causes of mortality here in Ontario is our cold winters; opossums are only recent residents to Canada and are not built for our extreme weather.  Because of their taste for road kill (carrion), many opossums are killed by automobiles.  Natural predators of the opossum include domestic dogs, coyote, bobcat, fox, raccoon and birds of prey.

This solitary animal will breed in early spring and have a litter of 1-14 young.  The new opossums are born 13 days later.  At birth the young are the size of a kidney bean and are blind and extremely underdeveloped.  They crawl up the mother and find their way into her fur-lined pouch where they continue to develop.  After 60 days they start to venture outside the mothers pouch and will cling onto their mother's back.  Another 30-40 days will pass before the young are ready to be weaned and eat solid food.  Two to three months after weaning the young disperse and begin their solitary lives.

That's Amazing

• The Virginia opossum is North America's only marsupial (pouch bearing animal).
• The Virginia opossum can kill and eat poisonous snakes (in the U.S.) like rattlesnakes, copperheads and water moccasins.  When stricken they are virtually immune, they can withstand more than 60 times the venom that it takes to kill other mammals of similar size.
• The term 'playing possum' comes from the opossum's ability to feign death when threatened. They flop over on their side, hang their tongue out and drool, sometimes holding that position for 6 hours.