BACKYARD ANIMAL WEEK!
(MAMMAL MONDAY)
It’s March Theme Week! Who’s excited? We sure are, because we are focusing on animals in your backyard! Do you ever just go out in your own backyard or to a local park and notice that there is actually quite a bit of wildlife? There are all kinds of fabulous creatures to see big and small. We often think of animals as being something you see on TV in Africa or South America, but nature is usually right outside our front door! So let’s spend the week exploring the natural world right outside in our own backyards! We’ll be focusing on animals in our backyard this week, but we would love for you to share animals in your backyard too! First up a marsupial that lives in North America!
MEET THE VIRGINIA OPOSSUM!
Range/Habitat: North America-Central America/ woodlands, urban,
grasslands
Diet: Omnivore: grub, eggs, fruit, carrion
Length/Weight: 13-20”/ 4 ½-12 lbs
Conservation Status: common
Fun Facts:
- Virginia Opossums are the only marsupial in North America. (Marsupials are mammals that give birth to very small young. The young then develop and grow in their mother’s pouch.)
- They are nocturnal (active at night).
- Virginia Opossums have hairless, prehensile tails. They can hang from their tails, but for only short periods of time.
- Virginia Opossums have opposable thumbs on their back paws.
- They have 50 teeth, the most of any North American mammal!
- Virginia Opossums can carry up to 13 babies in their pouches. They young leave the pouch after 70 days.
- Their most famous trait is their ability to “play dead” when they are threatened. They lay in a coma like state and can stay that way for up to 6 hours.
Opossums get a bad rap and we admit they aren’t the cutest thing in our back yards, but they are an essential part of the urban ecosystem! Plus, they are our only marsupial and we think that’s pretty cool!
The Adventures of Ellie and Edmond 
this is the first time I have seen an opossum in my back yard. we had a ground hop living under our shed in the back yard but not this. He was quite big looking for grubs I assume. I have live here for almost 50 yrs and have never seen this maybe on the side of a road dead. Do they survive our very cold winter we have had minus 15 deg. and and now only in the upper 2o’s. This one was not nocturnal but in the mid afternoon. I live in Natick,ma. d.desposito@verizon.net would love to hear more and could it be rabid showing up in mid day?