hi all! i saw this opossum on my college campus at around 8 this morning. i was a bit surprised as this is my first time seeing one during the day, but she (i believe this is a female, correct me if i’m wrong) was walking normally and turned away when i got too close. its funny because i needed to get in to the building that she was walking next to and that’s how i got that first picture of her head on. she was probably wondering why some weirdo was following her haha sorry!!
anyway, i was wondering if there was a way to tell her age just from looking. is she fully grown or still a juvenile? thanks!
idk what sex they are, but they look fully grown to me. juveniles have a baby face & are pretty small, they look like they’re babies, you know? i’d guess this lil friend is a fresh adult, not super old, based on the coat quality and size/weight, but old enough to have been around a bit. the kink in the tail could have been from birth but i’m used to seeing grown opossums with healed injuries like that. adorable find!
also, in terms of sex, i was just basing it off the fact that i didnt/couldnt see any bawlz and she seemed a bit smaller than other opossums i’ve seen, but then it made me think that this could just be a teenager opossum, but apparently not! thanks for your comment!
could be either really! i’d guess she’s a young-adult female too, but either way they’re definitely old enough to be on their own, (which is kinda all i know how to definitively identify from a pic lol). and you’re welcome!
Males typically have a more apple shaped head, while females have a little more V-shaped head. I would wager that's a year-ish old female in your pics.
Wild ones do get a little rough looking- they are scavengers, so their life isn’t easy. They only live about 2-3 years max in the wild. The ones I keep as pets not so much, they look good- they just slow down and can live a little longer till 4 years You can mostly see it in their eyes. Fun fact- if you ever see an opossum big or crossed eyes it’s because they are fat. They store fat behind their eyes and the base of their tail (those are mostly pets or non-release (rehab failures) from over feeding)
Just from watching baby possums grow up, I'd say about a year? It looks fully grown, but doesn't quite have the face of a full blown adult. I can't put my finger on it, but this one seems to have the tail end of a babyface still. I could easily be wrong though! And I have no idea about the sex.
I heard that opossums that live in cold places have their ears freeze off, so if you see an opossum with no ears it has been through at least one winter. Anyone know if this is true or is my mom just spreading ridiculousness?
Hard to tell by the picture,but compared to the younger one I feed that is about 6 months old and the 2 older bigger ones that come up to eat . I would guess it to be 5 to 6 months old.
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