One thing to Chew On | WeConservePA – FortiGate

by John Schwartzer

Nationwide Tooth Fairy Day was lately celebrated, and what Pennsylvania animal can be visited by the tooth fairy greater than some other? The Virginia Opossum, Didelphis VirginianaNorth America’s solely native marsupial, has extra enamel than some other mammal in North America with a whopping 50 chompers. Their displaying of enamel when threatened has earned them the nickname “grinners.” Opossums will be discovered from Canada to Northern Costa Rica. The identify opossum is an adaptation of apasumthat means “white animal” in Algonquin. Two US Presidents had a pet opossum. A male opossum is a Jack; a feminine is a Jill.

Child opossums, like their kangaroo cousins, are referred to as Joeys. Joeys are born 12-13 days after conception on the dimension of a bee. They nurse connected to the Jill’s 13 nipples inside a pouch(marsupial) for about 9 weeks. They then go for “opossum again” rides till they’re sufficiently big to fend for themselves. An opossum typically lives for 1.5 years within the wild, however some dwell as much as 5 years.

Opossums can and do carry rabies, nonetheless they’re semi-resistant and never liable to getting it or spreading it. You’re more likely to get rabies from a feral cat than an opossum however keep away from contact with any wild animal. Opossums can carry the micro organism chargeable for a number of human illnesses.

A startled opossum will go motionless and limp. They aren’t simply taking part in round. They’re bodily incapacitated, referred to as “tonic immobility” their respiration slows, the mouth gapes open, the eyes stare mounted, the heartrate drops, they usually typically drool and emit a foul odor. Many animals have this “off button” to permit them to keep away from some however not all predators. It’s much less helpful for vehicular encounters.

Opossums have a prehensile tail, that means it could possibly grasp objects. The tail can be utilized to help in climbing, stability, and carry nesting supplies. They can’t use it to assist their full physique weight when grown, and for professionals, possums shouldn’t be dealt with by the tail.

Roughly 20,000 opossums are harvested yearly in Pennsylvania and make a scrumptious meal for the adventurous eater. Opossums had been regionally a typical Thanksgiving Day meal. Opossum meat will be substituted for suckling pig. It has a wealthy, pork-like consistency, and from private expertise, pairs nicely with root greens.

The tooth fairy is a made-up story, one other good one is that opossums eat 5,000 ticks a yr. This legend relies on a examine that put ticks on caged opossums after which counted the variety of ticks that fell off the animals. The researchers leapt to the conclusion that the opossums will need to have eaten all the remaining. To refute this, one other researcher examined hundreds of untamed opossum abdomen contents and located zero ticks. However that is one fable that will profit them. If the fairy story retains circulating that opossums devour hundreds of ticks, individuals could also be much less prone to think about them a pest and go away them alone

Extra Opossum Studying to Make You Grin

Can You Eat Opossum? Issues to Know Earlier than Eating – A-Z Animals

Opossum | Sport Fee | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Opossum Protection Mechanisms | Opossum Society of the USA (OSUS)

Hosts as ecological traps for the vector of Lyme illness [Journal Article]

Wildlife of Florida Factsheet: Virginia Opossum

Out of doors Illinois Journal: Debunking the Delusion: Opossums Don’t Eat Ticks

McRuer DL, Jones KD (Could 2009). “Behavioral and dietary elements of the Virginian opossum (Didelphis virginiana)”. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Unique Animal Apply. 12 (2): 217–36, viii. doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2009.01.007. PMID 19341950.

Of Possums and Presidents: Some Presidential Encounters with Opossums | Folklife Immediately