When the joeys grow too big to fit, they cling to mom’s back as she ambles along. As marsupials, opossums can carry up to 13 babies in their pouch. No wonder they’re so often mistaken for rats of unusual size!īut that’s where the similarities between the opossum and rodent end. With their long snouts and beady eyes, “they are not traditionally cute,” says MacDonald, “but they’re super weird.” They have naked, round ears and a long, rat-like prehensile tail, which aids in climbing. “They were much rarer back then, but more and more people have become familiar with them in the last five years. “I saw my first opossum 20 years ago in Toronto,” says MacDonald. She has spent years observing the city’s urban raccoons, but recently, she’s been studying these homely, surprisingly useful newcomers. One person who has been watching them closely is Toronto-based psychologist and biologist Suzanne MacDonald. It’s even reaching parts of B.C.’s Fraser Valley. The opossum - commonly called a possum in North America (though the term technically refers to marsupials native to Australia) - is a helpful addition to habitats across Southern Ontario and Quebec.
However, it’s been staging an invasion into Canada - but don’t be alarmed! The opossum is a Canadian newcomer The Virginia opossum is North America’s only marsupial (a mammal that carries its young in a pouch) and is native to the southern U.S. With white faces, naked tails and beady eyes, these critters might be mistaken for a very large rat, but they’re a much more interesting neighbour. You may seldom see them, but they’ve been quietly crossing our borders and taking up residence in our backyards for years. Really, they are such a weird looking animal” - Suzanne MacDonald, psychologist and biologist featured in Nature’s Cleanup Crew, a documentary from The Nature of Things. They have a face only a mother could love.
0 kommentar(er)
