Virginia Opossum
Virginia Opossum
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| キタオポッサム | |||
| Character Data | |||
| AKA | North American Opossum, Possum
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| Romaji | Kitaopossamu
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| Debut | Not Featured Yet | ||
| Animal Data | |||
| Scientific Name | Didelphis virginiana
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| Distribution | Southern Canada to northern Costa Rica
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| Diet | Omnivore
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| Avg. Lifespan | 1.5-2 years old in wild, 3-4 years in captivity
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| Read More | Virginia opossum
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| Conservation | 
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| Virginia Opossum |
The Virginia Opossum is a type of mammalian Friend in the Kemono Friends franchise.
Appearance
Virginia Opossum has shoulder-length black and white hair; most of her hair is white, while her side-bangs, two pairs of whisker-like hair strands at the sides of her head, and a pair of low twin tails near the nape of her neck are all black. A light gray stripe runs down the middle of the top of her head, and her long front bangs come to a side-swept point between her eyes, and is tipped with reddish-pink. Her eyes are gray. She sports black opossum ears atop her head, and a grey and white opossum tail at her rear.
Virginia Opossum wears a gray button-up coat that buttons on her right side and sports a high collar. Her sleeves are slightly rolled up, revealing the long wrists of her black fingerless gloves. She has white denim shorts with distressed hems, worn over black leggings.
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Series Appearances
| Media | Role | ||
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| This Friend has yet to appear in any official media. | |||
In Real Life
The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is a small to medium-sized marsupial native to North and Central America, being the world's northernmost extant marsupial due to its extensive range. They can vary considerably in size, with northerly individuals exhibiting larger sizes and tropical or subtropical opossums being on the smaller side. The average male Virginia opossum is 16.1 in (40.8 cm) long from nose to the base of the tail, with the tail itself adding another 11.6 in (29.4 cm); females are only marginally smaller, with the average female being around 16 in (40.6 cm) long from nose to posterior with tails averaging 11.1 in (28.1 cm) long. It is claimed that males can be considerably heavier than females, with average weights ranging between 4.6 to as much as 6.2 lb or more (2.1–2.8 kg+) while average females only range within 4.2–4.6 lb (1.9–2.1 kg).[1] Their hair is primarily gray to brown in color, with distinctive white faces and pink noses. Their ears and feet are darker in color than the rest of the body.
The Virginia opossum is considered an iconic animal for its atypical biology and unique behavior. They are well-known for their hairless, prehensile tails, which they can use to secure themselves to branches, stabilize themselves, and even to carry small objects. Contrary to popular belief, they do not habitually use their tails to hang from trees, with the only instances being baby opossums—called joeys, as is the case for the young of other marsupials—which may briefly hang from trees when playing or catching themselves as they learn to climb. Adult opossums do not hang from trees at all, being too heavy for their tails to properly support their body weights. The belief that they hang upside-down to sleep is unfounded and illogical, as it would leave them exposed to the elements and vulnerable to predators; instead, Virginia opossums retreat into tree hollows or grounded dens to sleep through the day. They are also famous for feigning death when threatened, a behavior often referred to as "playing dead" or "playing [o]possum". This is believed to be done for various reasons, including discouraging predators and communicating that they are not a threat to animals acting defensively.
Virginia opossums are omnivorous and stand out as adept opportunists, being able to sustain themselves on a bevy of different foods and prey items. The range of small vertebrates and invertebrates they take as prey is wide, and includes beetles, birds, crickets, crayfish, earthworms, fish, frogs, grasshoppers, lizards, mice, rabbits, snakes, slugs, and voles; realistically, most any smaller animal in the opossum's domain could be viable prey. They also feed on bird and reptile eggs, fruit, seeds, grains, flower bulbs, carrion, and pet food. These last two are notable for giving opossums a bad reputation among humans, as pet food can attract them to people's homes and their scavenging tendencies lead to a belief that they are disease-ridden. The latter is a common misconception; Virginia opossums are cleanly by nature, and make poor hosts for the rabies virus due to their naturally low body temperatures.[2] Their carrion scavenging does pose a risk to opossums in that it attracts them to roadkill, which often leads to the opossums themselves being struck and killed by vehicles.
Trivia
- Opossums are not closely related to the Australian animals known as possums. Both are marsupials, but they belong to different taxonomic orders.
- There was once a belief that opossums gave birth through their noses.[3] This may have been founded from observations of female opossums with their noses in their pouches, which they do to either clean the pouch prior to a birth or to clean their joeys.
References
- ↑ "Didelphis virginiana (Virginia opossum)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ↑ Barr, Thomas R. B. (1963). "Infectious Diseases in the Opossum: A Review". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 27 (1): 53–71.
- ↑ [https://opossumsocietyus.org/general-opossum-information/opossum-reproduction-lifecycle/ "Reproduction - Life Cycle". opossumsocietyus.org. Retrieved 25 April 2026.