Are Our Friends Text by Jo Clark
t
This not-so-cute little nocturnal friend eats thousands of ticks, making it super helpful and one of the best wildlife critters to have in your yard. And just for the record, it really is pronounced possum, not OH-possum—that “o” is as silent as the opossum! Opossums are always on the lookout for an easy meal. They eat nearly anything like fruits, grains, plants or animals, and they aren’t above rummaging through trash. Keep garbage secure if you don’t want to be on the local opossums’ buffet route. They especially like deer ticks—the ones that spread Lyme disease. Scientists at the Cary Institute estimate these marsupials eat about 5,000 ticks in a single season. So when you think about it, which do you prefer? A disease? Or an occasional opossum passing through? And the bonus: The ravenous opossum also happily chows down on cockroaches, mice, rats and dead animals.
Relatives Down Under The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the only native North American marsupial. The opossum earns this designation because they raise their young joeys in a pouch, just like a kangaroo. Worldwide, there are more than 330 marsupials, 250 and upward are found in Australia; all but one of the rest live in South America. The possum and an opossum are the same things but, full disclosure, only the “Virginiana” variety. Once you’re down under, in Australia, there is a difference between the two. The Virginia opossum and Australian possum are known as the brushtail possum. Both are small marsupials, but their possum looks more like a furry chinchilla crossed with a squirrel and belongs to a completely different mammal family.
Schedule a FREE Consultation Your Turf Care Professionals 540-739-3947 | www.backtonaturelandscaping.com
*if contracted
JOIN THE TEAM! NRVMAGAZINE.com
Mar/Apr
2 0 2 3
33