Advertisement Opossum population in northern New England on rise since 1900 Opossums are only marsupials in North America Share Shares Copy Link Copy

In the snow this past week I saw not only the dog and cat paw prints but something looking more like a tiny hand of a human.In the dark, under the bird feeders, I saw something moving and got out my flashlight.To my surprise, it was an opossum, whose paw prints matched those I had seen earlier in the snow.Natives of Central and South America, these marsupials -- the only ones in North America -- do not seem very well-equipped for life in northern New England.With hairless tail and ears, they would not seem to be able to survive these cold winters.Yet, according to Northern Woodlands Magazine, they have been found here in increasing numbers since about 1900 and have found ways to adapt near humans."Besides lacking the proper outerwear, opossums do not hibernate. Except for denning up for short periods during the very coldest weather, they must be out and about all winter searching for food, which makes them extremely vulnerable to hypothermia and frostbite," the 2002 article reads. "In fact, wildlife biologists use signs of frostbite to judge an opossum’s age; a frostbitten tail and ears show that the animal has lived through at least one winter."Center Harbor in central New Hampshire marks the northernmost reaches of their eastern range.Opossums rarely live more than two years, though they live much longer in warmer climates.The animals have a tiny bit of extra fat that has allowed them to move this far north.The Virginia opossum, our resident opossum, is the only one capable of storing fat under its skin and in its tail.In the early 1600s, European settlers in Virginia encountered an abundance of these creatures.They were described by Capt. John Smith as having a head "like a swine, and a tail like a rat.”Even more marvelous, closer observation showed the opossum to be a marsupial, a mammal whose young are born quite small (A newborn opossum is about the size of a lima bean) and continue to develop in the mother’s abdominal pouch.A female may not live long but it has between 5-15 in a litter.The opossum will eat anything from fruits, berries, insects and dog food, in addition to bird food.It will happily make its bed under the back porch or in a corner of the woodshed.I believe my opossum is living under the barn. It's perfect habitat because our barn is close to a stream that hardly ever freezes and backs up to a deep woodland. And we are always feeding birds in the winter.Nocturnal creatures, they get out shortly after the sun sets and go out to look for food.Fully grown, an opossum is approximately 2 1/2 feet long, including the foot-long tail, and weighs from five to seven pounds.Encountering a predator or other threat, opossums may hiss, scream and show their teeth but are more likely to run away and hide in a tree or burrow or to play dead.There is a hunting/trapping season for opossum in New Hampshire and more information can be found at http://www.eregulations.com/newhampshire/hunting/furbearer-trapping/.19003418