Our little visitor

Awwww! It's so cute!! We had an opposum in our back yard once a few years ago. It wasn't anything as cute as that. Ours was pretty ugly, and boy did it stink. Sorry, I don't have an answer to your question, though.

How cute! I hope there's no fighting later

I used to feed all the wildlife(cats leftover wet and cheap dry id leave for the ferals who came only at night)

They do come out as it starts to get dark and if its living under your house/building they seem to come sooner then when they live in woods. We have a skunk that seems healthy(been here for months) I see wander down street about once a month. First time I was like oh no Rabid? Neighbor told me no its been here a year already.

I had moved a cat carrier/temporary house(insulated it and taped garbage bags yearssssss ago) thought the cat was inside was about to pet it and something felt wrong looked in cage to find a opossum...that would have been some bite!

I have never seen one of those. They are kind of cute.

I think they're cute!
Poor little guy, they're not adapted for the cold.

I see you found your answer already. Just want to add that I have seen them out in the day around here, and it's not always cold when they come out.

We had a really nasty one hanging around our old house for a while. He didn't like the cats and would try to chase them off. Eventually the cats won (thanks Bob and Lucky). Sorry, but I'm not a fan of possums.

I thought most people knew that opossums usually don't carry rabies? They're an amazing barrier species in that way. Their scavenger nature also means they can eat some pretty nasty stuff and be ok..

In winter, over cast days, or if they're very comfortable in an area, they'll be out in the day time. They can also learn to come to the sound of you putting food down, just like a feral cat will. I've had some learn "kitty kitty kitty" meant food. Usually they're fine with cats, but some of them are grumpy (just like skunks can be) and they prefer to have a food dish to themselves.

They don't seem to be particularly friendly to skunks.. or at least not around here. I've heard skunks and opossums fighting (usually they wanted the same hiding spot) and once because the skunk couldn't spray the opossum sent it running pretty quickly. He was a big fussy old opossum, though.

They'll also use any shelters you may put out for feral cats. In general, a opossum in the wild has a very short life span.

That was interesting Laurie and Strange Wings, thanks for posting.
I never knew about the rabies resistance. In fact, I thought that rabies was an unusually virulent virus that no mamal was immune to, so that's quite incredible that oppossums can be a "barrier species".
I know we get them up here in Canada so obviosly they're clever enough to survive a winter or two, but I know they originally came from the warmer South and don't live long up here.
I hope your little one sticks around Laurie. Looks like he's got a good deal there.

They're often hit because their eyesight is fairly poor. Also, no matter how far across they are a opossum will run back across the road from the direction it came. Cats will do this, too, though. So it's just best if you see any sort of eye shine at night to drastically slow down and expect it to run out in front of you.

The last summer I looked out the back door to see a tiny rat sized opossum drinking water (I always leave a bowl out). I started putting a little cat food out for it by the tree behind out house so it wouldn't be tempted to steal any from MewMew and Boo. At that size they would have killed the poor baby.
I saw it a few more times after that, it was a bit larger every time I saw it.

I've also came up on some young adult (still small) opossums sitting on my in-laws deck. All but one ran and I was able to get quite close to that one. I held out the flash light ( a big flash light, btw, I'm not crazy) and it sniffed it. I talked to and made little noises at the opossum for a minute or so, it settled down then I went back in the house.

I see them all the time on my walk to work every day. Yes, they have terrible eyesight. They'll walk right up to me until I have to stop and say, "Hello Mr. P. excuse me--incoming". Then they scurry off. They aren't real attractive BUT I think they're very cute. And they hiss just like a kitty!! I found one curled up in the bottom of my dumpster once--thought it was a kitty--spoke to it and started to reach my hand down to it--it looked up at me--oops that could have turned out badly..

There was a really cute little one on our back porch once. I ran outside to say hello and it hissed at me! Too cute for words.

Do you suppose they're resistant to rabies because they're marsupials? Marsupials are so different from other mammals it wouldn't surprise me if that was the reason.

I think they're cute. There used to be a couple that ate the cat food but I haven't seen them in a while. Either someone killed them or the feral cats chased them off.

Opossums actually don't stay in one place for that long. The only reason we see them hang around as long as they do is for the easy cat food meals. Usually after a few months they move on.

I'm not sure what makes them more resistance to infections, other than a good immune system. I'll have to research that tomorrow.

ETA: Low body temperature and immune system. I'm sure I read that somewhere before.

Awww, she's cute! I'm glad you're letting her eat.

We've had a family of three groundhogs for years now; their main den is up at the rear of our property. We leave them alone, unless they start to build dens and dig down around the house and shrubs....then we'll try to trap them and close the holes. Notice I said "try" to trap them? We've tried everything, but those animals are smart!

Now we have no idea what the sex is of any of the three groundhogs. One is a dark brown; we call her the Brunette Bombshell and she likes to come down and sun herself on our deck. She actually flops over on her back with all four paws in the air, like a cat doing a bellywave. The first time I saw her doing it, I was worried about rabies, too, but she's fine.

The other two are lighter in color and we call them the Blondie Boys. They're the little buggers who try to build dens down by the house. As soon as we see a den, we'll close it....that's mostly during the spring season.

They love sliced apples and cantaloupe rinds. Sometimes, we'll buy some ears of corn and throw them up for the groundhogs...they'll come out and eat the corn off the cobs. We used to put dry cat food out on the deck, but we figured that's why the Blondie Boys were digging around the house...it was closer to the food. We stopped the dry cat food snacks on the deck. Oh, and they love peanuts! We'll throw a couple handsful of unshelled peanuts up around their den....they gobble them up.

We've never tried to touch them....I've heard they can be ferocious fighters and we don't want any trouble. But for the last twelve years or so, we've all managed to live together without a lot of hassles, although I'm sure they're not the same groundhogs who were here originally. Still when the Brunette Bombshell suns herself on our deck, it makes me smile. And the cats are quite used to her, too.

I have an interesting possum story that involves my (OTB) greyhound Tyler. Greyhounds have been bred for thousands of years to chase down and kill small prey. That is the reason why most people are afraid to keep them with cats, as a simple shake of their head with their prey in their mouths will kill the prey.

Tyler was a momma's boy and never once failed to come running when I called him. He idolized me and lived to please me. I caught him in the act of chasing down a feral cat one time and chastised him harshly (basically I ignored him for 2 weeks, which was a living h*ll for him). About 3 years later I let the dogs out (4 at the time) for their evening run. Everyone came back except Tyler, and he didn't come when I called. 30 minutes later and still no Tyler. So I grabbed a flashlight and went out to look for him. I saw a possum laying on the ground on its side behind the house, then saw Tyler standing in the field pacing back and forth and looking extremely nervous. He thought he had killed the possum and he was terrified that I was going to reprimand him again. I had to get his leash, walk out to him and drag him back into the house. When I walked past the spot where the possum was laying (Tyler was in pure panic mode by then), it was gone. It had been playing possum and totally fooled poor Tyler.

That poor possum was living proof that you can train thousands of years of instinct out of a dog if you find the right motivation to correct their behavior. It was also living proof that possums use the act of "playing possum" to survive.

He's so cute, I've seen them in my back yard at night, but not as clear as your picture shows!

That IS a tiny one! We have much bigger ones around here, bigger than Genever for sure.. A few months ago the light went on in the backyard from the motion sensor, so we went to look out and see why, and there was a big bad opossum just walking around. I actually went out to try to shoo it away, because we think/thought (i'm honestly still not sure) we have/had some in our attic.

There was something up there that ran around at night and pooped. No chewing damage so we didn't think rats. We put a humane trap up there, but then when we saw the huge one in the yard, well that would never fit in that trap! But we haven't heard anything in a while. I hope whoever was squatting up there has left for good! I like the critters, they can hang around all they want in the yard, but they are not invited into our house.

ANYWAY... So I went outside to chase the opossum away, and it just very slowly wandered away from me, like it didn't know I was there or just didn't care. Then after it left, we saw something, maybe the same one, run along the wire to our roof. That was back when we were hearing critters up there.

Hope your little visitor stays an outside visitor!!

Look at your little cutie, Laurie! So glad you found those important facts about possies. Yes, it's true, we're more likely to carry rabies than opossums! It's unknown exactly why they are resistant to the disease, but some theorize that it's their lower body temperature. They're also immune to snake bites!

Bless you for caring for this precious little one! Opossums are the absolute most loving, trusting animals I've ever had the joy to work with. They are non-aggressive, non-territorial loaners. I'm so glad you know that this little guy poses no threat to your kitties, they are opportunistic feeders and s/he is so happy to have found someone to provide a tasty meal! They love over-ripe produce if you have any to share, as well. They'll eat just about anything, but it's great to keep their diet as healthy as possible. Wish I could come over and love on your new little friend! Please let me know if you have any other concerns!

That gave me a good idea, I could put some fruit or something out behind the garage, that way they might think it's ok to be around, but back where the food is, not near/in the house..

I know whenever an apple drops from the tree and it has a bite or worm hole or something in it, I put it behind the garage and it's always gone the next morning.

Do they like oranges? We've got loads of them coming soon...

My Bitty baby used to love pears! They absolutely adore red seedless grapes, too. Citrus isn't a favorite, but it wouldn't hurt to offer for sure! Great idea to put their food back behind to garage to let them know they're especially welcomed there! Meal worms are quite enjoyed by possies and an excellent source of protein for them if you have a pet store in your area where you could pick some up