The opossum is a wandering opportunist who has ambled from prehistoric time to the modern day virtually unchanged.

      Being omnivorous, it will eat anything available. Its dinner menu may include: insects, rodents, berries, plants, small reptiles, birds and their eggs, and carrion - in any state of decomposition. It will even make a meal of its own family members that have been killed.

      As daylight approaches and being primarily nocturnal, the opossum seeks shelter in any protected spot it finds and sleeps until sundown. Highly adaptable, it will use abandoned dens of other animals, tree cavities, haystacks, brush piles, under a house or porch, a manger in a barn and has been found curled up in an open crows nest. It seldom spends more than two successive nights in the same area.

      The opossum does not hibernate but becomes inactive for short periods of time. When hunger strikes, it ventures out into the cold weather, even in a snowstorm. Its naked ears and tail are vulnerable to frostbite. It is not unusual to see an opossum with part of the ears and tail missing.

      Looking like a mutant rat with its long, scaly tail, elongated, narrow and coneshaped white face, pink nose and beady black eyes, it doesn't win any beauty contest.

      Dressed in white underfur with black tips, long coarse white guard hairs gives it an overall grayish white appearance. Opossum is an Algonquin Indian name meaning "white animal."

      With a small brain, poor hearing and bad eyesight, the opossum must rely on its keen sense of smell and delicate touch for survival.

      The opossum moves with a shuffle, walking on the soles of its feet with the heel touching the ground. Its toes are skillful like a human's fingers. The hind feet have a toe resembling a thumb that is used for grasping a tree or limb as it climbs. Its long, tapering tail is used to hold objects and to hang upside down from a branch like a monkey.

      A slow runner, the opossum will try to escape an enemy by hiding in brush or climbing a tree. If shelter is not available, it will try to scare the intruder by crouching, hissing, growling, salivating and opening its mouth wide, exposing fifty razor sharp teethÐthe highest number of teeth found in any land mammal.

      If attacked, the opossum falls onto its side. Saliva drools from its slightly opened mouth. Fecal matter and a greenish foul smelling mucus is excreted from its anal glands. Its breathing becomes shallow as it clenches its front feet into balls. With tongue hanging out and eyes tightly shut it lies limp and motionless.

      The opossum will play dead anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. At this time it cannot be provoked into moving. It can be kicked, poked and prodded, pinched or bitten without giving any signs of suffering. When the danger has passed, the opossum toddles away as if nothing ever happened.

      This is the opossums way of surviving a fatal attack. Most predators, except carrion eaters, ignore dead prey. No one knows for sure what happens when a carrion eater finds an opossum playing dead.

      Wildlife biologists have yet to determine whether feigning death is deliberate or an involuntary reaction. Some say that chemicals released into the brain cause a temporary coma, but recordings of brain activity show that the opossum is in a highly alert state.

      There are many opossum species worldwide, but the Virginia opossum is the only one found in North America. It belongs to a primitive group of mammals known as Marsupialia that are mainly found in Australia and South America. Like that of the kangaroo, koala and wombat, the opossum is a true marsupial. The female is our only mammal with a fur lined pouch on its belly in which to raise its young.

      The male and female are solitary and come in contact only during the breeding season. The female normally gives birth to five to 13 premature live embryos that look like navy beans. As many as 25 newborns have been reported. They are so small that 24 of them can fit into a teaspoon. When born, they crawl through her fur, three to four inches upward into her pouch. If they are unable to climb, the mother may help but chances are she won't. Once inside they attach themselves to one of her thirteen nipples. They will remain in the pouch for two months.

      At eight to nine weeks of age the young come out of the pouch for short periods of time. Looking like a lady with her hair rollers too tight, the mother's famous grin looks more like a grimace as the young hitch a ride on her back, gripping her hair with both hands and feet. They will go their separate ways in about four months.

      The opossum has a life expectancy of one to three years with some living to age seven. It is perhaps the most common sight on the side of the road. Its eyes glow yellow in the glare of automobile headlights as it feeds on roadkill. This bad habit has caused a great deal of opossums to lose their lives. It has been suggested that the opossum may have originated the common term - roadkill.

      Once thought to be something only the Beverly Hillbillies would eat, Ôpossum is now considered a delicacy to many people in the eastern and southern United States.

      The opossum has been accused of being slow, stupid and weak, condition which have caused a great deal of animals to become extinct. Yet, it has lived for thousands of years and has been called a living fossil.

      The reasons for its survival are its unaggressive nature, ability to eat anything, dead or alive, its great acting ability and the fact that it has lots and lots of little possums. Like the cockroach, the opossum is believed to laugh in the face of extinction.

      Ann Bailey-Dunn writes for many outdoor publications and has authored a children's wildlife book. She makes her home in Campton, Kentucky.

      Readers interested in Steve and Dave Maslowski wildlife photographs may call them at 513-231-7301 or e-mail; MaslowProd@aol.com