The opossum has earned the title of “Nature’s Little Sanitation Engineer. The opossum in turn helps keep our neighborhoods clean and free of unwanted, harmful garden pests and rodents, which may carry diseases. The nocturnal opossum is attracted to our neighborhoods by the availability of water, pet food left out at night and overripe, rotting fruit that has fallen from trees. Their diet includes all types of bugs and insects including cockroaches, crickets and beetles. Whether rural, residential or in the wilderness, opossums are a benefit to any area they inhabit. The opossum also has opposable thumbs on its hind feet for holding onto branches. The opossum does not hang upside down by the tail, a common misconception. opposable -p-z-bl 1 : capable of being opposed or resisted 2 : capable of being placed against one or more of the remaining digits of a hand or foot the opposable human thumb opposability -p-z-bi-l-t noun Example Sentences Humans have an opposable thumb. Its hairless tail is prehensile and is used for grasping branches, balancing and carrying nesting material. It has 50 teeth, more than any North American land mammal. The opossum has many interesting features. However, opossums today can be found throughout most of the United States and portions of Canada and Mexico. Virginiana refers to the state of Virginia where the opossum was first observed by early English colonists. Didelphismeans double womb and refers to the pouch as a secondary place of development for the infant opossums. While there are over 65 species of opossums, only one, the Didelphis virginiana, more commonly known as the Virginia opossum, is native to North America. Sometimes the opossum is able to escape death by “playing ‘possum” or feigning death, and in so doing the predator may lose interest in the apparently dead animal and not eat it The name “opossum” is derived from an Algonquian Indian word “apasum”, meaning white animal. This short lifespan is due in part to the presence of many predators including dogs, cats and people. The opossum has an average lifespan of 1 to 2 years.
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