Cody Pope, via Wikimedia Commons Opossums might be on the list of New York’s least loved animals, but it is hard to resist their appeal.
The Virginia opossum is more closely related to kangaroos and koalas than to the rats and rodents with which it is frequently compared. North America’s only native marsupial, the opossum is probably more frequently observed in New York City trash cans than in New York City parks.
And though their unsanitary services might place opossums on the list of New York’s least loved animals, it is hard to resist their appeal. Perhaps it is that pointy white face, or the wide, toothy grin of 50 undifferentiated teeth (a primitive marsupial characteristic), but the smile looking up from the bottom of the trash can is like a mischievous child’s. It is easy to anthropomorphize, but an opossum wants an approval it will probably never get from us.
Staring at a Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is like collapsing the history of mammalian evolution into a single moment. Mammals like these were scampering through the underbrush while dinosaurs ruled the earth, and with hard-won perseverance, they maintain several very primitive characteristics.
Baby opossums are born naked and blind, about the size of honeybees, after a gestation of just under two weeks. They face their first challenge immediately: a climb to their mother’s marsupial pouch. An opossum may bear up to 24 joeys at a time, but she has only 13 nipples.
Life is hard for these animals, and a 3-year-old opossum is an old opossum. To make up for this brief life span, opossums begin to bear young at 10 months and never stop, producing multiple broods annually if conditions permit.
The animal’s most famous talent, “playing possum,†is not a voluntary response to a threat. If hissing, lunging or baring its teeth does not ward off a problem, an opossum actually faints from stress. Physiologically, the opossum shuts down, balls up its front feet and goes limp. It may even drool from its open mouth.
If this drama fails to dissuade a predator, it can exude an ill-scented, greenish mucus from its anal glands to heighten the impression that it has died.
If it is hard to imagine a predator fooled into believing an animal who was snarling and fighting just moments ago is actually a rotting carcass, consider that there is no shortage of opossums in North America. The subterfuge must work at least some of the time.
It is interesting to note that the drooling, drunken behavior of a bluffing opossum often fools humans into believing it is rabid. For reasons that are poorly understood, opossums are highly resistant to rabies, and are far less of a threat than raccoons or skunks. Of course, it is never wise to be close enough to any wild animal to find out. It is also wise to seek medical attention for any scratch or bite from an opossum.
Because these marsupials have a range that extends from Mexico to Canada, it is not surprising that all five boroughs of New York City and its surrounding suburbs are home to them. Opossums do not hibernate and can be observed at bird feeders, parks and your garbage pails through all four seasons.
