THE VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM.
(Didelphis virginiana.)
This creature, which is a native of North America, is about the size of a cat, and its fur is of a dingy white, except the legs, which are brown, and the nose and ears, which are yellowish. There is also a brownish circle round each eye, and the ears are nearly black at the base.
The Opossum generally lives in trees, suspending itself by the tail, by means of which it swings from branch to branch. In this manner it catches the insects and small birds, on which it generally feeds; but sometimes it descends from the tree, and invades poultry-yards, where it devours the eggs, and sometimes the young fowls. It resembles the kangaroo in its pouch for carrying its young, but in no other particular, as it walks on four feet, and its legs are uniform in length; and it has a long flexible tail, which is of no use to it either in leaping, or as a weapon of defence. The tail is, however, of singular use to the young, as when they get too large to be carried in the pouch, they fly to their mother when alarmed, and twisting their long slender tails round hers, leap upon her back. The female Opossum may be sometimes seen thus carrying four or five at once.
The Opossum may be easily tamed, but is an unpleasant inmate, from its awkward figure and stupidity, and its very disagreeable smell. The American Indians spin its hair and dye it red, and then weave it into girdles and other articles of clothing. The flesh of these animals is white and well tasted, and is preferred by the Indians to pork: that of the young ones eats very much like the sucking-pig.
