Skip to main content

Virginia Opossum

Didelphis virginiana

Published on Project Noah
Zoom
NominateNominate for Wildlife Photograph of the Month
reportFlag Spotting

45.0021, -93.1247

Field Notes

Description:

These opossums vary in size with the larger ones in the northerly part of their range. They are about 35-94 cm (13–37 inches) in length; individuals in the tropics are considerably smaller. Coats are gray/brown with some grizzling. The nose and toes are pink. The tail is bare of hair and gray in color. The face is white with dark ears.

Habitat:

These animals are often found in cities, where they feed on garbage and pet food left out overnight. Rarely seen in daylight. At one time, the St. Paul/Minneapolis area of Minnesota was the limit of their northern range in our area, but these animals have expanded their range northward in recent years, perhaps in response to a warming climate.

Notes:

It's mating season for opossum in our area. I've seen this pair on several occasions over the course of the last three days.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (9)

Very nice! I feed a wild cat, but I think I would recognize their tracks if they came to her bowl ( so far only cat prints (:
Hi Gordon. I really like your series. Very cool animals. What a find. Glad you spotted two. They were posing for you. HA!
Such a beautiful series! So happy to see opossums that are so vibrant here on PN rather than the lifeless ones on the road while driving....
You took a simple, well known animal and made it look amazing. great series Gordon thank you.
Lovely series Gordon!
Thanks Ashley. These two opossums wandered down our driveway and through the backyard. We have a woods that abuts the yard and these two were heading there. I followed them for about 20 minutes (forgot my coat) until they entered a hole beneath a brush pile. Didn't realize I was getting cold, although I stopped photographing these two for a minute while I rolled down my sleeves...grin. I find animals so interesting, I often forget just about everything else when watching them.

Accelerate our Mission to Photograph 
Every Species in the World!

Image
Butterflies icon

Wildlife Community

Wildlife Community

Join a worldwide community passionate about wildlife and nature!

Join Project Noah

Nature School

Nature School

Transform your green space into a curiosity-creating nature classroom!

Visit Nature School

Wildlife Game

Wildlife Game

Defend wildlife throughout the jungle in thrilling nature game!

Play Baboon