North American Opossum

Description:

The Virginia opossum is the original animal named "opossum". The word comes from Algonquian 'wapathemwa' meaning "white animal". Colloquially, the Virginia opossum is frequently called simply possum. The name is applied more generally to any of the other marsupials of the Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata orders, which includes a number of opossum species in South America. The possums of Australia, whose name is derived from a similarity to the Virginia opossum, are also marsupials, but of the order Diprotodontia. - Wikipedia

Habitat:

The Virginia opossum is found throughout Central America and North America east of the Rockies from Costa Rica to southern Ontario; it seems to be still expanding its range northward and has been found farther north than Toronto. In recent years their range has expanded west and north all the way into northern Minnesota. Its ancestors evolved in South America, but invaded North America in the Great American Interchange, which was enabled by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3 million years ago. Originally native to the eastern United States, it was intentionally introduced into the West during the Great Depression, probably as a source of food,[4] and now occupies much of the Pacific coast. Its range has been expanding steadily northwards into Canada. - Wikipedia

Notes:

Opossums are nocturnal but a lot of times during the cold winter months, they will come out during the warmer daylight hours to search for food. I had been seeing several juvenile opossums on my front porch at about 4-5:00 pm, but on this day, one came out at 2:30 pm ! I enjoyed watching him climb the tree to eat some peanut butter and then climb up the tree about 30 feet to sit on a limb for awhile before climbing back down the tree HEAD FIRST ! It's the first time I saw one climb up and down a tree. Their little toes have quite a grip !