Readers share their tales of opossum encounters
It seems I’m far from the only one who enjoys regular visits from opossums in my yard or have seen them in their travels. My column about opossums that show up at my place to scarf down birdseed prompted dozens of emails from readers who have had similar encounters with the U.S. invaders, along with many photos.
The Virginia opossum migrated north as climate change warmed Canada, and settled into southern Ontario decades ago in numbers that suggest they’re now a permanent presence in the local landscape.
I’ve noticed them in my Scarborough Bluffs neighbourhood only in the past couple years, but readers say they’ve been seeing them for 20 or more years, an indication they’re here to stay, like raccoons or squirrels.
One of the best emails came from Patti Wibe, who said that on a stroll she noticed “something crossing the road that seemed to undulate as it moved.
“Going closer to see, it turned out to be a mother opossum with a multitude of babies on her back. As she walked, one would fall off the front and run around to the back to get back on as the other babies all moved forward in a wavelike motion.
“It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. She walked so slowly that I could go back inside to get my phone to take a picture.”
Real estate agent Ken Jackson emailed to say he lives in a Harbourfront condo and recently spotted a “pretty big” opossum while walking his dogs in the middle of the day.
“He was inside a construction cage where workers keep their equipment (behind our condo just in front of the Gardiner at the Lower Simcoe ramp). He saw me but not my dogs and froze, giving me lots of time to take his photo.”
Moira McCarthy said she was up late at night a few weeks ago when “our security light came on and I saw a very large opossum in our back yard. She was twice the size of one I saw last summer.
“Last week I was sitting on my patio and out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought was a rat. It was an adorable baby opossum! It came back (20 minutes later) and I snapped this picture. I named it Opie.”
Janet Vickers Wilson said she noticed that something had been knocked off a bottom shelf in her garage in 2017. “It seemed odd, but whatever.
“Three days later when I was cleaning the garage, I saw something furry behind the winter tires stored along the back wall. When I moved the tires, an opossum ran along the wall and buried its nose in the corner, as if to say, ‘If I can’t see you, you can’t see me.’ “
Elaine Fletcher said she became familiar with opossums when she lived in Indiana and has since renewed her acquaintance with them while living along the bluffs in Scarborough.
“My first encounter with one in Toronto was about 3 years ago in Warden Woods Park. I was with my dog when we spotted a dead possum lying on the grass.
“This was during the day in bright sunlight. The possum was definitely dead — glassy open staring eyes, not moving or breathing. My dog touched it with her nose and sniffed it but had no further interest in it as she only cares about animals that she can potentially chase.
“We finished our hike in the woods about 30 minutes later and, on passing by the same area, no possum. It gave me the best demonstration of playing possum.”
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