Northern Brushtail Possum

The first time I saw an opossum, I thought it was a giant rat. :)

She's actually a bit cuter than her American cousins! :D

Emma, you've confused the Australian possums, with the American opossum. The former is actually named after the latter. Europeans first encountered the marsupial opossum in North America, and later in Australia, they recognized our 'possum' as a similar critter and gave it the same name. Being Australian, of course the name got shortened. Our possums do end up as road kill though, mostly because they are blinded by the headlights and freeze up. we've rescued a few of their babies.

Unfortunately ,one of the survival tactics they use is "playing dead" They becoming easy targets for the incoming traffic because they play dead when they see a speeding vehicle. Sometimes a dead possum with 6 to 8 babies is found in its pouch. Lindsay museum of Wild Life takes in the orphaned babies.

may want to narrow it down to northern brushtailed possum