In the dark of night, it seems that most of the wildlife in the neighborhood has gone to bed. Bird sound ceases at twilight. Gray squirrels, chipmunks, and woodchucks have long since retreated to their nests and dens. Crickets seem to be the only ones with energy after dark. Well, not exactly. When the sun goes down, a number of your wild neighbors are just starting their day. Such as your neighborhood possum.
I'm Iain MacLeod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, and this is Something Wild.
In the dark of night, it seems that most of the wildlife in the neighborhood has gone to bed. Bird sound ceases at twilight. Gray squirrels, chipmunks, and woodchucks have long since retreated to their nests and dens. Crickets seem to be the only ones with energy after dark.
Well, not exactly. When the sun goes down, a number of your wild neighbors are just starting their day. Such as your neighborhood possum.
The opossum is officially known as the Virginia opossum, but many folks just call it a possum. This shy animal with big eyes in a pointed little face looks prehistoric because it is: opossum fossils have been found from 70 million years ago.
An opossum hunts at night for its preferred diet of insects and carrion, although it will eat just about anything, including pet food and trash. During the day, it sleeps in a hollow tree, abandoned woodchuck hole or squirrel nest, or under a porch, stairs or deck. It's not picky. It generally stays in one place for just a few days, so if you have one sleeping in your yard today, it won't be for long.
The opossum is North America's only marsupial, making it a relative of the kangaroos and wallabies of Australia. A marsupial's young are tiny when born - the possum's are about the size of a Boston baked bean - and continue to develop in the mother's abdominal pouch.
Central New Hampshire and southern Maine are just about as far north as opossums can survive, and their range has only extended this far within the past hundred years or so. They are not built for our cold weather, as they only have thin coats of fur and none at all on their ears, toes, and tails. And because opossums don't hibernate, they are out searching for food in the deepest cold of winter and are susceptible to hypothermia and frostbite.
Cold weather doesn't stop our resident possums for long, however. We still seem to have plenty around in our neighborhoods - after dark, of course.
If you have a natural history question that you would like answered on Something Wild, email us at somethingwild@ nhpr.org.
Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New
Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the Society for the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain
MacLeod.
