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Virginia Opossum
Bobble is an opossum that came to us with the intentions of rehabilitating and releasing her back into the wild, where opossums belong. Unfortunately, at the weight of 35 grams, Bobble was attacked (prior to coming to us) by a dog AND a cat who did so much spinal damage, she never fully regained the use of her hind legs and therefore is unable to climb. Without the ability to climb, releasing Bobble to the wild would have meant certain death for her. So, she lives with us now and is quite a happy little opossum. She thoroughly enjoys doing programs and untying as many childrens' shoes as she can. Because of her disabilities, he is a very safe animal at programs due to the fact that she can't move very fast or climb. She also shows what can happen when wildlife and domestic animals meet.
Unfortunately, her immune system is not that great. At approximately 6 months of age she developed an infection in her tail and had to have half of it removed. Below you can see her in her cast. This does not seem to have slowed her down much, she certainly isn't depressed over it. And is really enjoying her recuperation time in the house with us. We have determined that it is best for Bobble to remain an indoor member of our family.
It is not legal to possess a captive opossum in North Carolina without special permits.
To Native Americans opossums symbolize proper use of deception, use of appearance, sensibility, gaining wisdom and recovery.
In The Wild
Classification: |
Marsupial |
Native Region: |
Found in most areas of the US. |
Diet: |
Omnivores. Opossums are very opportunistic feeders, they are referred to as "natures sanitation engineers", because they pretty much eat whatever they come across. Feeding on carrion, insects, fruits and vegetables. |
Behavior: |
Virginian Opossums are nocturnal, preferring to come out after dark to find their food and explore the area. Rarely do they sleep in the same place twice. They more or less roam and bed down wherever their wanderings happened to take them that night. |
Social Structure: |
Solitary except during mating season and while joeys are young. |
Interesting Facts: |
These little guys have a very unique defense mechanism called "playing possum". If they are frightened or feel threatened, their body actually goes into a comatose type state, making them appear to all to be dead. At times they will actually emit a green "ooz" that smells like dead and rotting meat. Their paws are actually round in shape, with nail less, opposable thumbs. Their tail is prehensile, though they do not hang from their tail as people tend to believe they do. They do carry things with their tail, and their joeys use theirs and their mother's tails as a way to keep in contact with mom. Once joeys are walking on their own, they will actually all walk along side mom with their tails hooked to hers. |