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North American Opossum

Didelphis virginiana

Photo by Christine Y.
Published on Project Noah
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41.6036, -73.4594

Field Notes

Description:

My husband spotted this cute opossum "guarding" garbage dumpsters! At first he thought it was an "ugly" cat, haha. He ran home to tell me, and I went right out to get some shots of it. It just sat there calmly and watched me...

Habitat:

Habitat: Apartment complex garbage dumpster in a rural area.

Notes:

The North American Opossum is the only marsupial found in North America, north of Mexico.

Reference Links:

Virginia opossum - Wikipedia

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)
Christine Y.
Thanks so much for the nomination and comments! @Maria dB - I definitely agree! They are fantastic creatures! I particularly thought this one was adorable with its pink, bulbous nose. It reminded me of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. This opossum still lives in our neighborhood, so I'll have to name it Rudolph ;)
DrNamgyalTSherpa
Congratulations Christine Y. for the nomination for the SOTW!
Maria dB
Very nice portrait. Opossums are great animals, eating ticks. It's a shame so many people seem to dislike them.
AshleyT
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
triggsturner
Love this image Christine. It looks . . . . so guilty of something! Thanks for sharing it.
Christine Y.
Thanks Lauren and Danièle! It was very calm and not aggressive...But, we did decide not to take our garbage out that night so we didn't have to open the gate that it was sitting on, lol. It was a cool experience though to be able to get so close to a wild mammal - not a common thing in Connecticut.
LaurenZarate
They're very cute until you see their teeth! I like the ears on this one. Not at all like ours.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
2018 Best Wildlife Photo

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Photographed
PublishedOctober 23, 2018

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