San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Mama opossum, joeys welcome additions to Mt. Whoville
Mama opossum and I have become pretty good friends, but I’m sure she has no idea that I even exist.
It’s a one-sided relationship for sure.
I don’t put out food, but I do provide fresh water, good habitat and a happy place that offers lots of native cuisine to keep our local possums happy.
My reward has been a nightly visit from this little critter that I look forward to seeing on my game camera as she drinks, perhaps scoops up a snail for a midnight snack, or waves hello.
OK, I made up the wave thing. It’s more than just a casual encounter. Along with the joy of sharing intimate views of our wildlife neighbors, there is great anticipation.
You see, this marsupial, North America’s only one, is carrying babies.
The opossum gives birth to as many as 20 babies, initially about the size of a honeybee. Known as joeys, they immediately crawl into the mother’s pouch where they will nurse until they have matured enough to enter the outside world. Less than half typically survive.
During this process, which can take up to four months, the joeys grow and at some point, may emerge and be seen clinging to the back of their mother. I’ve been hoping to get a photograph of that.
I first suspected that our opossum visitor was carrying babies when distant camera images showed her pouch was bulging. On a few video images you could see several tiny tails hanging out of her pouch.
I have eight cameras scattered around Mt. Whoville, and it’s an exciting routine to check every morning to see what mamma opossum is up to, not to mention the coyotes, bobcats, quail, roadrunners, bunnies and owls.
There are a couple of members of the opossum family who emerge nightly from the native vegetation, then wander about our property looking for food, water or items of interest.
They have a broad diet, including grass, nuts, fruit, carrion, insect, worms, mice, snakes and birds. They obviously have refined taste, preferring escargot.
Mama opossum, distinctive because of her bulging pouch, was easy to identify from the others. But I am now a little anxious. These are generally solitary and nomadic scavengers, always on the move in search of food. Despite my hospitality, she may have moved on.
Every morning I check the previous night’s camera activity, but it has been over a week now since I have seen mama opossum.
Considering the long period of development for the newborn joeys, I am hopeful she has just ambled to another area, but might soon return for an on-camera encore with youngsters on her back.
Because they are rarely seen, and will act quite ferocious when cornered, they suffer from a bad reputation.
Despite hissing and the bearing of needle-like teeth, the opossum got its name because when threatened it will feign death. In reality, they are not aggressive, and their defensive hissing is simply a bluff.
Not only does it “play possum” by appearing dead, but the opossum also produces foam around the mouth and emits an odor resembling a dead animal.
Researchers have determined this is an involuntary act, and recovery takes several minutes, beginning with a twitching of the ears.
The opossum is a beneficial garden visitor, quite clean, and no more prone to disease than any other wild animal. They will help maintain a healthy garden by controlling snails, slugs, insects, small rodents, and fruit that has dropped from trees.
I’ll let you know if the joeys show up.
Nature notes
Several readers have written recently asking about the migration of hooded orioles. Yes, they have begun departing for their southern journey to their winter home in Mexico.
Several messages included comments that the birds seem to have departed earlier than usual.
Migration is often triggered by the availability of food, and drought conditions may have impacted the oriole’s food sources here, thus triggering a slightly earlier departure.
At any rate, in the next few weeks they will be gone, and it’s a good time to clean feeders well and store them away until putting them out next spring.
In the meantime, don’t forget the hummingbirds, who enjoy the same mixture of one part sugar and four parts water. You can also use the oriole feeders for the hummingbirds.
This could be an invitation or a warning, depending upon how you feel about big spiders.
Early fall is tarantula mating season and just before dark, hikers will often encounter dozens, yes, dozens, of these big, black male spiders along the trail or wandering in the dry fall grass.
The ritual begins with males emerging and searching for smaller females lurking in burrows. The male will drum or tap on the burrow to attract the female’s attention.
The successful male who does find a receptive partner will often lose his life in the process, because the female will sometimes kill him and eat him after mating. Spider romance is no picnic.
Many of the trails in our inland areas, such as the Ramona Grasslands, Santa Ysabel Preserve, Mission Trails Regional Park, Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and San Diego National Wildlife Refuge are great places to encounter these docile spiders.
Happy hunting.
It’s been a hot summer and an important addition to help your wildlife neighbors is water.
Until winter rains arrive, it’s important to keep water available. Something as simple as a large saucer filled with fresh water will attract birds, mammals, rodents and even snakes.
A small fountain will attract an amazing number of birds to bathe and drink, not only providing animals with water they need, but adding new visitors to your garden.