America's Marsupial

Last night my niece woke up crying and opened the front door. I went to put her back to bed when she told me there was an opossum on the front porch. You're dreaming, I told her. But I looked and there WAS an opossum on the front porch. Next time she tells me she sees a leopard in the supermarket, we're leaving.

Virginia opossums are our only marsupial. This one was climbing a tree at Fernald looking for winter-dried fruit. With their prehensile tails and opposable thumbs, they are adept if clumsy-looking climbers. Unlike foxes, skunks and raccoons, opossums don't carry rabies. The babies are adorable, but then one day, boom, Uglytown. But I think they're awesome.