Opossums

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Opossums

• By
• Anna Corliss
• October 2008

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Life Cycle

• Mates in February and August
• 2 litters each year
• 20 or more babies
• 20 babies can fit in tablespoon
• Grows quickly
• Can feed 13 babies and the rest die
• Can have one litter in Feb
• Stays near mother.
• Adult when 3-4 months old
• Life span less than two years

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Habitat/Shelter

• Eastern United States
• North into southeastern Canada
• South into Mexico and Costa Rica
• Favorite habitat is forest or brush near a
  stream/swamp
• Farm land wooded parts of the cities
• In a hollow log
• Takes over abandoned burrow helps it stay warm

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Diet

• Omnivores
• Fruit, vegetables, eggs, garbage, beetles,
  ants,worms and rattlesnakes.
• Finds food with keen sense of smell.
• Feed young mothers milk
• in pouch

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Adaptations

• 50 sharp teeth
• Plays dead to fool enemies
• Keen sense of smell
• Long pink nose
• Rat-like tail
• Thumb-like toe on each leg
• Weighs 4 to 5 pounds
• Big as a house cat
• Long snout, dark eyes

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Fun Unusual Facts

• Was not found until 1890, in the West
• 20 babies can fit in a tablespoon
• Common opossum only found in the
  United States
• 50 sharp teeth
• Babies big as a bean
• Killed by cars when looking for food on roadways
  

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Works Cited

• NatureWorks. Update N/A. New Hampshire Public
  Television. 30 Sept. 2008 lthttp//www.nhptv.org/n
  atureworks/nw4.htmgt.
• Opossum. World Book. 2004. 2004.
• Stone, Lynn M. Opossums. Vero Beach, FL
  Rourke, 2004.