Wild Facts

Photo by Cody Pope (Wikimedia)

So it looks like we are at the starting line of another exciting week.  I trust all of you were able to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful springtime weather (assuming it is spring where you are).  I thought we would start the week off with North America’s only marsupial.  Of course I am talking about the Opossum.  I know! I thought we had already learned about this clever little animal too, however, I can’t seem to find any Wild Fact on them so we will explore this marsupials life today.  Now while in North America we are all familiar with the Virginia Opossum, it is important to realize that there are about 60 different opossum species.  We will look at the animal as a whole instead of going into all 60 different species.

The Opossum is often referred to as a “Possum” but this is technically incorrect, since the Possum is a different animal living in Australia.  As mentioned the Opossum is a marsupial which just means they have a handy, dandy pouch.  As a result the female will give birth to helpless babies about the size of a honeybee.  Naturally, these little “honeybees” will spend the rest of their development period in the infamous pouch.  An Opossum may give birth to up 20 babies, however, only about half of these will actually make it, with some never even getting into the pouch.  I guess life is tough for a “honeybee” Opossum.

Playing Possum - Photo from Wikimedia

Now we all know what has made the Opossum famous, right?  Well we should since they are responsible for the common phrase, “playing possum”.  Of course when one of these marsupials are threatened by a hungry predator, they will play dead.  Normally, they will remain still and either have their eyes closed or will be staring blankly into space.  To make sure they look dead they will often let their tongue hang out.  In fact they are so good at playing dead that you would think they take acting lessons while hanging out in the pouch.

Opossum Fast Fact – When they aren’t in a pouch or playing dead the Opossum loves to climb trees.  Their incredibly sharp claws and their long prehensile tail allows them to be quite effective climbers.  This is probably a good thing since they spend the majority of their time in the tree tops.

So it looks like we are at the end of another Wild Fact.  I hope you enjoyed it and I will see all of you tomorrow.

Photo by Michael Morcombe

Lately, I have been realizing that Australia is still a place that I will need to visit soon.  It has always been on the top of my “Must See” list, however, since starting Wild Facts it has dropped in the rankings due to places like Madagascar and Southern Africa which are just loaded with cool animals.  Today, we are going to look at another marsupial that is found in Australia (as well as in Papua New Guinea).  I would really like to make a visit to check out all of these unusual mammals. Anyone up for a road trip?

The Cuscus (no, not that rice-type stuff, couscous) is a sub-species of the possum. In fact it is the worlds largest possum species.  I would like to make it clear that the possum and opossum are two different species. The opossum can be found in North America and is actually the only marsupial found in North America. Although they may have similar names and some similar physical characteristics the possum and opossum are not closely related. Now that we got that mess cleared up, lets get back to our delicious couscous….. I mean, Cuscus!

The cuscus spends the majority of its life hanging around in the canopy of the beautiful Australian trees.  What is one of the best adaptations for an animal that spends most of their time in the trees? That’s right!  A long prehensile tail that acts as an extra arm for hanging in the branches. These little guys use their tail so well that when they were first discovered, Scientists believed that they were related to monkeys. Of course, we know that they are actually more closely related to the possum. Silly Scientists!

Since the cuscus spends most of its time in the trees and only comes out to feed at night, they actually have very few predators. Among them include snakes and birds of prey.  Although, humans are probably their biggest predator.  Apparently they are hunted for their meat and thick fur.  This doesn’t help their population status which is unfortunately dwindling.  The main cause for their population decline though is the destruction of their habitat.  Once again, humans need for natural resources are impacting the local populations of animals.

Cuscus Fast Fact: The cuscus is a very secretive animal so spotting them in the wild is very difficult.  I guess this means we will have to keep our eyes peeled during our road trip to Australia.  I want to be one  of the people lucky enough to see them in their natural habitat……..before it is cut down!

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone!

Photo by Michael Morcombe

Lately, I have been realizing that Australia is still a place that I will need to visit soon.  It has always been on the top of my “Must See” list, however, since starting Wild Facts it has dropped in the rankings due to places like Madagascar and Southern Africa which are just loaded with cool animals.  Today, we are going to look at another marsupial that is found in Australia (as well as in Papua New Guinea).  I would really like to make a visit to check out all of these unusual mammals. Anyone up for a road trip?

The Cuscus (no, not that rice-type stuff, couscous) is a sub-species of the possum. In fact it is the worlds largest possum species.  I would like to make it clear that the possum and opossum are two different species. The opossum can be found in North America and is actually the only marsupial found in North America. Although they may have similar names and some similar physical characteristics the possum and opossum are not closely related. Now that we got that mess cleared up, lets get back to our delicious couscous….. I mean, Cuscus!

The cuscus spends the majority of its life hanging around in the canopy of the beautiful Australian trees.  What is one of the best adaptations for an animal that spends most of their time in the trees? That’s right!  A long prehensile tail that acts as an extra arm for hanging in the branches. These little guys use their tail so well that when they were first discovered, Scientists believed that they were related to monkeys. Of course, we know that they are actually more closely related to the possum. Silly Scientists!

Since the cuscus spends most of its time in the trees and only comes out to feed at night, they actually have very few predators. Among them include snakes and birds of prey.  Although, humans are probably their biggest predator.  Apparently they are hunted for their meat and thick fur.  This doesn’t help their population status which is unfortunately dwindling.  The main cause for their population decline though is the destruction of their habitat.  Once again, humans need for natural resources are impacting the local populations of animals.

Cuscus Fast Fact: The cuscus is a very secretive animal so spotting them in the wild is very difficult.  I guess this means we will have to keep our eyes peeled during our road trip to Australia.  I want to be one  of the people lucky enough to see them in their natural habitat……..before it is cut down!

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone!