Jan 21, 2009
SOURCE: 9news.com Colorado's News Leader
DENVER - In this week's visit to the Denver Zoo, Kyle Dyer heads to the Education Department to meet Ozzie, a Virginia Opossum.
Ozzie is about 8 months old and will begin to be shown to schools and groups in a few weeks. When full-grown, Ozzie will be about the size of a house cat. His white face, leathery ears, gray fur and that long tail all lend to this animal's unique look.Â
Virginia Opossums - so called because explorers discovered these animals in the Virginia Territory in the 1600s - are one of the world's oldest surviving species. They have been called "living fossils" because their ancestors date back millions of years.Â
Opossums are the only marsupial to be found in North America. Like Kangaroos, marsupials give birth to very young, undeveloped babies. The young move into the mother's pouch and continue their early development for about three months, and then they move to the mother's back for another 4 to 6 weeks.
These animals range throughout North America, from Central America into the United States and up into Southern Canada. They live only two years in the wild, and just a few years more in captivity. Virginia Opossums are omnivores, feeding on a wide range of plants, insects and other small animals.
These animals can also, as the saying goes, "play possum." Virginia Opossums can actually alter their body functions to fake death. They slow their heart rate down and emit an odor, so predators will believe the animal is dead, and move along.
