- Nature News by Marlene A. Condon
- Mar 5, 2024
I feel extremely fortunate that I received my degree from Virginia Tech. For a nature lover, such as I, the campus and the Blacksburg area where Tech is located provided plenty of opportunities to observe wildlife.
I lived a few miles away from the university in a rented trailer that was surrounded by farmland. One morning when I left for class, I forgot to close my bedroom window. Much to my surprise (and delight, to be honest with you), when I returned home later that day and walked into the bedroom, I found a momma opossum with her babies clinging to the fur on her back!
Young opossums accompany their mother in this manner during the final month that they are suckling. I was absolutely thrilled to see such a cute sight, but of course, the opossums weren’t thrilled to see me. The entire family left quickly by way of the same window they’d entered by.
Many folks do not like this mammal because they consider it to be ugly and rat-like in appearance. People tend to be afraid of rats, so they are often afraid of opossums as well. But there’s really no reason to fear either one of these mammals. As a child, I had a black-and-white pet rat named Melvin that I remember fondly to this day.
Wild rats and Virginia Opossums are both members of Mother Nature’s cleanup crew. You are most likely to see rats at farms where spilled grain has been left on the ground where it would become wet and moldy if rodents didn’t feed upon it. Agricultural-supply centers that leave spilled grain on the floor also invite mice and rats to visit, and homeowners shouldn’t leave pet food outside where numerous kinds of wildlife will be attracted to it.
Opossums recycle dead plants and animals, which helps to keep the environment functioning properly. Sadly, this role causes them to get run over when they try to feed upon animals that have been hit by traffic, which is why you see so many dead opossums on the roads.
Opossums are omnivorous, eating just about anything that they find, including insects and other invertebrates (animals without a backbone), small birds and mammals, amphibians (such as frogs and toads), eggs, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you drive slowly after dark (opossums are nocturnal, or active mostly at night) on rural back roads or even along city and town roadways, you might spot an opossum and get to watch its ambling gait as it searches for food.
A Virginia Opossum has a small brain, which is supposed to be indicative of low intelligence. However, all animals possess just what they need in brainpower to survive, and that’s what counts.
This species does very well, even though an opossum skull can only hold 26 navy beans, as opposed to a Common Raccoon’s skull that can hold 139. I never would have thought to measure intelligence with navy beans, but yes, a scientist did make this measurement!
Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com.