Our little visitor

I'm a bit concerned... opossums are nocturnal. Is s/he out because it's easy food and SOOOOOO cold? We pick the food up at night specifically to discourage wildlife. But it has been just so dang cold!

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.

And that pic is through a window into a dark area. The little thing is REALLY cute!

I PMd DawnofSierra. (She rescues opossums).

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.

Originally Posted by pushylady

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

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Really? There are heaps of them around here, and they obviously survive some nasty winters!

I did a very quick read. Apparently they'll live in burrows made by other animals. I'm guessing s/he's taken up residence in one of the MANY groundhog burrows around here. There are three entrances to one under our porch, and it wasn't inhabited by groundhogs by the end of the summer. S/he should be pretty warm down there if that's the case.

But this little one is here in the middle of the day - nowhere near dusk. S/he only comes to eat after the cats have been round for the middle of the day snack.

I was a little worried about rabies... but other than being out during the day, this little one doesn't seem to exhibit any symptoms.

Well, I just found out rabies is very rare for opossums - they're more resistant than just about every other mammal.

Working on the temperature and daylight thing.....

OK! Found the answer(s)! http://opossum.craton.net/faqs.htm

Opossums are nocturnal, but I saw one out during daylight. Is this normal?

Opossums are generally nocturnal, foraging throughout the night. But it is not at all unusual to see an opossum out during the daytime, especially during cold weather. They also can be seen in the day when food is scarce or when they have been disturbed from their sleeping quarters. The winter months will see many opossums change their foraging habits from night to day in order to try to take advantage of the warmer weather during sunlight hours.


Do opossums carry rabies?

Unlike most wild animals, opossums are highly resistant to rabies. It is extremely rare to encounter a rabid opossum, though if bitten or scratched by one, it is nevertheless advisable to see a physician immediately. Any opossum that would behave in such an uncharacteristic fashion must be assumed to be rabid.

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Also, in another section it says that cats and opossums are often friendly to each other.

AND they live in all states in the U.S. and as far north as Toronto, so those up this way have definitely adapted to winter.

Guess we just have a little winter visitor!

Originally Posted by mbjerkness

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

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REALLY cute! Much cuter looking at him through the window than in the picture. Especially when s/he looks up. Little white face, pink nose, and pink and black ears!

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.

Thankfully this little one doesn't seem to be nasty. S/he clearly waits until the cats are done to eat.

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.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

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.

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Nope, had no idea about them being so resistant to rabies, but it's great to know!

The only thing I knew about opossums I learned here on TCS - and that is that they're great to have around because they eat all the nasties, and that they're generally benevolent animals, except for the occasional grump.

There are definitely a lot of them around here. Unfortunately we see far too many dead from cars. Gary had to kill one once, because the car in front of us hit one, and didn't stop! It was injured VERY badly but wasn't dead, so Gary put him/her out of misery.

We've trapped a couple of HUGE ones in the trap. This is the littlest one I've seen.

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.