The other day at my “branch office” (Dunkin), the topic of dead animals on our roadways came up-yes, it’s true we do have some very heady and in-depth discussions from time to time. I’ll admit, that out of sheer boredom I suppose, I sometimes count and try to identify the dead animals littered along our highways; it’s kind of a non-scientific survey if you will. Certainly, deer are fairly high on the list as well as raccoons, skunks, foxes, an occasional coyote, and even on occasion a bear. Still, opossums also rank quite high on the list, which brings me to what this story is really all about-opossums.

What brought this story to mind was what I observed under our bird feeders a couple of nights ago. My wife threw some stale cookies out under the bird feeders thinking the birds might munch on them. (How they got stale is beyond me-I did my best to devour a dozen or so every day.) To my surprise, an opossum was devouring every morsel he could find. This led me to discover what these critters eat and whatever else I could learn about these somewhat unusual animals.

True, they are very common in our state, but it’s also true that they are the only marsupial living on our continent. What’s a marsupial, you ask? Marsupials are born before they are well developed and continue their growth and development in a pouch on their mother’s abdomen. Their senses of smell and touch are well developed, but their hearing and eyesight are rather weak.

The name is an Algonquin Indian name meaning “white animal.” The long rat-like tail and the pale pointed snout and the coarse light gray fur make it easy to identify. Opossums are not fast walkers, but they are excellent climbers often using their tail to grip and balance. Probably the thing we think of first when talking about opossums is the act of playing dead-something a threatened opossum will often do if it cannot escape up a tree or into a hole. This very dead-like state can last for just a few minutes up to several hours. They may also put out a musky odor that helps to repel some enemies. Scientists are still not sure whether feigning death is deliberate or involuntary.

Opossums are very opportunistic, and they will eat almost anything-even stale cookies. They also eat insects, snakes, toads, the young of other animals, bird eggs, berries of all kinds, mushrooms, acorns, and cultivated plants. They will also eat garbage and carrion, including other animals killed on our highways; that might help explain why we see so many dead along roadways. Opossums tend to travel alone, and usually at night-daytime sightings are not common.

Obviously, when you get a close look at an opossum, its fur is not very thick and offers poor insulation-they do not grow a winter pelt like many other creatures, and they do not hibernate, yet they are often out during the winter months. They do add a layer of fat in winter, and they may den up during cold and snowy periods.

While foxes, bobcats, hawks, and owls are more than willing to make a meal of “possum,” I, on the other hand, have no interest in turning one into tableware. Now, it’s back to counting carcasses.