In captivity, the oldest recorded opossum was four years and five months old. Chad Fox is a wildlife expert who loves spending time in nature and working with animals on ranches and farms in Texas and Oklahoma. In addition to their bodies natural biology, opossums are prone to parasites and disease, including leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, and Chagas disease leading to early death. At first, the baby opossum weighs less than a gram. In North America and Canada, the only marsupials we have is the opossum. Senescence is rapid. In the regions where it is legal to own an opossum, there are still a few challenges. What to do if an opossum is not scared of people, acting strange or is aggressive? Opossums sometimes use their tails to signal other opossums. A opossum with open eyes is likely to be at least 70 days old. These mammals are savvy, and they often play dead when a predator approaches them. Ticks, particularly black-legged ticks such as deer ticks, which are responsible for the transmission of Lyme disease, appear to be a favorite of the opossum. Average life span: The life period of an opossum is the shortest for mammals of their size. Polar Bear It has a slow, side-to-side gait as it forages for food, usually at night. These treats should be mixed with regular dry pet food several times per day on a regular schedule. However, unlike American opossums, Australian possums have fairly longer lifespans. The opossum is one of the most popular marsupials in the world. Its reasonable to expect that youd need to place them into a cage for much of their life. When an opossum feels threatened, its immediate and involuntary reaction is not to run or fight but to roll over and play dead. The highly recognizable kangaroo is a likely answer. However, they are immune to viper venom and several diseases, including Lyme disease. Sometimes, itll be down to natural causes. The possum has the particularity of knowing how to play dead and to give off a repulsive odor when a predator seizes it. Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Create your account. A lot of this has to do with external factors that theyre not able to control. Cool and Common. The . Melissa Bialowas has taught preschool through high school for over 20 years. Once youve seen one, youll never mistake it for anything else. Praying Mantis The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only one to two years in the wild and as long as four or more years in captivity. It can be scary for most people when they find this animal in their yard.
