We have had the pleasure of raising many babies over the years and rehabbing several adults. We have never had them stealing eggs but have found them sleeping in the nest boxes in the winter. Odd little creatures. Every one of them looks different in color and facial expression.
Diane! This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I I’m just now in the middle of a very long text chain with my entire family during which only I and one nephew have been defending the virtue of the opossum. I will send them this post, posthaste!
Here's the main source for my statement about high winter mortality of opossums.
Kanda, L. L. (2005). Winter energetics of Virginia opossums Didelphis virginiana and implications for the species’ northern distributional limit. Ecography, 28(6):731–744.
The research paper reports on winter mortality at an Amherst, Massachusetts study site. It found a winter survival rate over several years for the studied group, juvenile females, at 25% down to almost 0%. It directly attributes the high mortality rate to cold, noting that in the coldest winters the mortality rate is higher than in milder winters. It states that cold limits the species northern range limit.
A major work that discusses the challenges of cold for opossums:
Feldhamer, Thompson & Chapman 2003 – Wild Mammals of North America (2nd ed.)
The understanding of winter survival of opossums in Iowa is reasonable because Iowa’s winters are more severe than those of Massachusetts. Although the average Iowa temperatures are only slightly lower than those of Massachusetts, there are more drops to very severe cold of –10°F to –25°F. The cold snaps last longer, and there is no nearby ocean to moderate temperature swings. Severe freeze-thaw episodes create hard, crusty snow surfaces and bare frozen surfaces, which are tough on non-hibernating animals who forage and depend at least partly on small invertebrates for food.
Thanks, I very much appreciate the response. The Kanda article studied a small sample of opossums for their winter weight loss, but also mentions that the overall population in the area remains strong. The second piece, the chapter, describes all sorts of interesting facts about them, but I couldn't find clear population studies' results.
I love them so much. We had a pet possum when I was little. I dressed her like a baby. She used to give us head massages and slobber into our hair. We have so many here in Alabama. Unfortunately, they are the only animals that carry a parasite which they can transmit to horses through feces, causing awful problems. Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) can cause fatal neurological damage, though milder forms can be treated. Two of the horses I work with are currently being treated for it. Not all possums carry this pathogen, and not all horses get it when exposed. I still love possums, that will never change. Only now I cringe when I see them near the horses' hay. I welcome them to my yard and the rest of my world, and wish they were better at dodging cars!
Fascinating facts!! Thank you for sharing! The opossum at your place really does resemble Mickey mouse with those black ears! Not sure I have seen one with that coloration. They are quiet creatures. Thanks for sharing!
So quiet, except when they hiss. Well, the hiss isn't loud, but it's scary. Yet to see them then fall over as if they've fainted kind of takes away the terror.
I heartily wish them good luck too! I understand that they eat their weight in insects daily during the summer. Is that true? I've caught them in my racoon trap and enjoyed seeing them up close before freeing them. They didn't enjoy it, though. Not one bit.
They eat a lot of insects, but not that many. Each adult possum eats a couple of pounds of food per day, which is a lot for an animal weighing around 10 pounds. That includes fruit, carrion, insects, grain, and garbage, plus dogfood and the odd rodent. The insects might be 1/3 of the total, and that is a lot of bugs.
Ohhhhhh O-Possums! How sweet to Know The Truth (facts!) about these pink-toed-darlings! I will, heartily, now give them more respect than I have in my (ignorant) past. (Prolly other things I yam ignorant of, too...sigh!) Diane, your descriptions of these sweet critters are so dear, so full of love and respect! How harmless and innocent they are! And cuuuute! Make My Day!! :<)))
I try to not think of wild animals as cute, so as to show them respect. But sometimes I can't help myself. And possum toes get past all attempts at objectivity. They are too too cute.
We have had the pleasure of raising many babies over the years and rehabbing several adults. We have never had them stealing eggs but have found them sleeping in the nest boxes in the winter. Odd little creatures. Every one of them looks different in color and facial expression.
Diane! This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I I’m just now in the middle of a very long text chain with my entire family during which only I and one nephew have been defending the virtue of the opossum. I will send them this post, posthaste!
💕💕
Oh, how delighted I am! Thanks for sharing this!
just saw one of these critters crossing the road in our neighborhood last night. We brake for opossums!! Thanks for the bio!!
I love it when people give possums a break (and a brake). Blessings on you.
Thank you Diane. I have a new appreciation for this nocturnal animal. We’ve heard they keep the tick population down.
They do eat ticks, but the amount is sometimes exaggerated.
„ During the Iowa winter, more than half die from the cold.“ That’s quite a stat! Would you mind sharing the source?
Here's the main source for my statement about high winter mortality of opossums.
Kanda, L. L. (2005). Winter energetics of Virginia opossums Didelphis virginiana and implications for the species’ northern distributional limit. Ecography, 28(6):731–744.
Link to the full article:
https://primarilypossums.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/kanda2005-1.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com
The research paper reports on winter mortality at an Amherst, Massachusetts study site. It found a winter survival rate over several years for the studied group, juvenile females, at 25% down to almost 0%. It directly attributes the high mortality rate to cold, noting that in the coldest winters the mortality rate is higher than in milder winters. It states that cold limits the species northern range limit.
A major work that discusses the challenges of cold for opossums:
Feldhamer, Thompson & Chapman 2003 – Wild Mammals of North America (2nd ed.)
The long chapter on opossums can be downloaded for free in PDF format here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272506332_Opossum_Didelphis_virginiana ResearchGate
The understanding of winter survival of opossums in Iowa is reasonable because Iowa’s winters are more severe than those of Massachusetts. Although the average Iowa temperatures are only slightly lower than those of Massachusetts, there are more drops to very severe cold of –10°F to –25°F. The cold snaps last longer, and there is no nearby ocean to moderate temperature swings. Severe freeze-thaw episodes create hard, crusty snow surfaces and bare frozen surfaces, which are tough on non-hibernating animals who forage and depend at least partly on small invertebrates for food.
Thanks, I very much appreciate the response. The Kanda article studied a small sample of opossums for their winter weight loss, but also mentions that the overall population in the area remains strong. The second piece, the chapter, describes all sorts of interesting facts about them, but I couldn't find clear population studies' results.
I wrote this little Dr. Seus poem a few years back for a friend who lives in southern California who had an opossum visit her bird feeder regularly.
Blossom the possum came by for a snack.
Not easy to do, with 4 kids on your back!
Clinging higgledy-piggledy, to and fro,
A burden she carries wherever she goes!
But she doesn’t mind; she doesn’t complain.
She smiles as if it’s never a strain.
“How do you do it?” I asked her one day,
“I love them,” she said, then waddled away.
I love this. Would you give me permission to put it in the Notes, where more peeps might see it?
I love them so much. We had a pet possum when I was little. I dressed her like a baby. She used to give us head massages and slobber into our hair. We have so many here in Alabama. Unfortunately, they are the only animals that carry a parasite which they can transmit to horses through feces, causing awful problems. Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) can cause fatal neurological damage, though milder forms can be treated. Two of the horses I work with are currently being treated for it. Not all possums carry this pathogen, and not all horses get it when exposed. I still love possums, that will never change. Only now I cringe when I see them near the horses' hay. I welcome them to my yard and the rest of my world, and wish they were better at dodging cars!
Oh my, that is terrible tidings about EPM!
But I have to say the story of a possum slobbering into the children's hair just makes me laugh all over.
I have a new appreciation for them now.
Thank you Nancy. That makes me very happy.
I love the little creatures. We see them sheltering with the feral cats in our shelters and in other places that offer a safe shelter in cold weather.
Love you for loving them!
And thank you for commenting.
Fascinating facts!! Thank you for sharing! The opossum at your place really does resemble Mickey mouse with those black ears! Not sure I have seen one with that coloration. They are quiet creatures. Thanks for sharing!
So quiet, except when they hiss. Well, the hiss isn't loud, but it's scary. Yet to see them then fall over as if they've fainted kind of takes away the terror.
Thank you for commenting!
Little baby hands. I think they are adorably cute.
I agree, they are like baby hands. They look so sensitive.
Humans would die quickly from diseases without the scavengers!
Very well done, Diane! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for commenting Lucy. You made me feel good.
I heartily wish them good luck too! I understand that they eat their weight in insects daily during the summer. Is that true? I've caught them in my racoon trap and enjoyed seeing them up close before freeing them. They didn't enjoy it, though. Not one bit.
They eat a lot of insects, but not that many. Each adult possum eats a couple of pounds of food per day, which is a lot for an animal weighing around 10 pounds. That includes fruit, carrion, insects, grain, and garbage, plus dogfood and the odd rodent. The insects might be 1/3 of the total, and that is a lot of bugs.
Such a sweet animal and those toes....
I know. They look as sensitive as a baby's fingers, don't they?
Ohhhhhh O-Possums! How sweet to Know The Truth (facts!) about these pink-toed-darlings! I will, heartily, now give them more respect than I have in my (ignorant) past. (Prolly other things I yam ignorant of, too...sigh!) Diane, your descriptions of these sweet critters are so dear, so full of love and respect! How harmless and innocent they are! And cuuuute! Make My Day!! :<)))
I try to not think of wild animals as cute, so as to show them respect. But sometimes I can't help myself. And possum toes get past all attempts at objectivity. They are too too cute.