RANGE | The Virginia opossum can be found in most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and along the West Coast. It is also found in Mexico, Central America as well as British Columbia and Ontario in Canada. The Virginia opossum lives in a wide-variety of habitats including deciduous forests, open woods and farmland.

FUN FACTS | Possums are found in Australia and opossums are in the Americas but this kind of opossum- the Virginia opossum- is the only marsupial in the US. Like kangaroos and koalas, they have a pouch to carry their young. The kangaroo and koala has a pouch with an opening that goes horizontal, or side to side, and they carry just one or two babies at a time and typically very different ages. The opossum pouch is vertical, going down the center of her abdomen, and they can carry up to 13 babies at a time. When opossums are first born, it is only their front legs and mouth that are fully developed. They must travel into the pouch to attach to the mom to drink milk and will actually develop inside the pouch. As the babies grow, the pouch becomes too crowded and the babies eventually begin to venture out of the pouch and climb on to their mom’s back to quickly learn how to survive since they become independent at just 3-4 months old.

These omnivores primarily scavenge, eating carrion, which manages the spread of disease and contamination but will also catch and eat small insects, grubs and worms. They consume different kinds of fruits and vegetables, berries and other plant material and deposit- or disperse- the indigestible seeds. In addition to these important jobs, opossums eat lots and lots of ticks.Ticks can spread Lyme Disease to animals and people.

Ophelia and several of her siblings were still inside their mother’s pouch when she crossed a busy street and was struck down. The next day, a bicyclist stopped to check on the mom, and while she had not survived, it appeared that her babies were still alive. They were all taken to a local wildlife center. While examining the babies, they realized that Ophelia had been injured as well; her tail was broken and bleeding. The only way to stop the bleeding and save her life was to amputate the tail. Opossums use their prehensile tails for climbing and balancing, so without it, she had limited chances of surviving. Since she was not able to be released into the wild, they reached out to us and we became her forever home.

Ophelia loves her fleece beds and blankets. She curls up in them and under them, getting all cozy and snuggly, sometimes with a small stuffed toy or two. She uses small playstructures and really likes tubes and plastic boxes. We created a series of wide, sturdy ramps for her- similar to cat bridges but with a railing- and that really expands her space for her so additional structures like that would make her enclosure even more dynamic and stimulating.