Opossums are fascinating critters. Before I started interning here, I didn’t particularly like them. When I was a little kid I was taking out the trash and found one in the bottom of the garbage can! It played dead at first, but it still shocked and scared me. We called animal control. As they were trying to get it out and determine if it was healthy, it was hissing and showing its teeth. This was an unpleasant experience, and it made me want to avoid them. Many people have had similar experiences. Opossums have gotten a bad rap with some people just because they have adapted to urban areas and may eat out of garbage cans. They are opportunistic generalists. This helps them survive where most other species are declining.
Some people think opossums look ugly, or like a rat. After seeing a couple friendly opossums, I think they’re adorable. They do have a hairless tail and a pointed nose, but they aren’t related to a rat. They’re the only marsupial in North America. They play dead when frightened. They can even slow their heart rate and breathing! If that fails, they try to scare off the predator by hissing and acting ferocious. However, the captive ones that we have are very gentle and easy to work with. Don’t try to make one a pet, because you can’t expect to get the same results. Our expert trainers have worked with ours since they were babies.
This is the only way opossums like Tinkerbell can sleep upside-down!
Tinkerbell is our adult opossum. She is a sweetheart. She uses her tail to hold onto things and keep her balance. Adults can’t really hang by their tails because they’re too heavy.
Adorable Sleepy when we got him.
Sleepy, our baby opossum, started out the size of a bean. He was as big as a mouse when we got him a month ago. He’s been growing like a weed! He has been getting along well despite being blind. Opossums have very sensitive noses, whiskers, and ears, so they can get along well without vision.
Sleepy on Tracy's shoulder a couple weeks ago.
Today Sleepy was very active, crawling all over me.
Sleepy inspecting my ear. What's with animals and ears?
Lately wildlife rehabilitators in southern California have been finding an alarming number of opossums born without eyes. What could be causing a mutation like this to suddenly pop up? Perhaps an environmental pollutant? This should be researched.
~Casai
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