Friends of Bolin Creek

This week I have been surprised with the animals that just allow you to walk right up to them.  The rut is about over,  but this young buck doesn’t seem to realize that he is supposed to be skittish.  Of course this is not “Big Daddy”..but I was still rather amused by his boldness.  It just makes my job easier.
And here we have the Virginia Opossum. People are never very excited about Opossum ..but they are fascinating creatures. This particular female has discovered our birdfeeder. She visits nightly to collect the spilled bird seed,  and is very relaxed about our presence on the scene. Quite the wide mouthed yawn. If you disturb or corner an Opossum,  they stand with their mouth agape and show you their fifty teeth. They never attack, unless you actually try to pick them up..and even then ,  they are likely to collapse and simply “play possum”  The playing possum might be involuntary…a neurological response to stress…but it serves the possum fairly well.   Often a dog will give up on prey that appears to be dead. The opossum adds to the act by releasing a slightly foul smelling musk from its anal glands. These peaceful creatures are North America’s only Marsupial.  The female opossum has a placenta that is not well developed. Her multiple young are born after about a fourteen day gestation. Each little opossum is about the size of a raisin,  and is still in an embryonic state. The mother licks her abdomen to slick the fur,  and each tiny Opossum must crawl to her pouch (marsupium) and latch on to one of her 13 teats. Some of them never complete the crawl.  For the next 2 months ,  the youngsters stay in the pouch.  Eventually they climb out and ride around on their mother’s back.
Opossums are not fast, their hearing isn’t acute, and their vision is ordinary. They are however,  superb climbers. The tail is not truly prehensile. It is not strong enough to hold up an adult animal, but it is used as an extra limb … or brace while climbing.
Like us, Opossums are true omnivores,  and will eat almost anything .  Much of their diet is scavenged. They will eat carrion , and anything else that they happen to find. Sadly, many die on roads eating roadkill.  The habit of standing still when confronted is  one of the main reasons that they perish on the road.
Did I mention that Opossums don’t have a lot of sense? They toddle through life taking little notice of the possible dangers around them.  Dogs kill Opossums easily. They also fall prey to Owls, Fox,  and Coyotes.  Fortunately… we are a friendly group around here!  Here’s something else that serves the Opossum well. The are naturally resistant to snake venom,  and rarely carry rabies. Their body temperature is too low for the rabies virus to thrive.
Finally, take a look at that hind foot. She has an opposable digit on her paw. Great for climbing trees. That thumb- like digit never has a toenail. The life expectancy of a wild Opossum is estimated to be two or three years. Poor little creature just gets tangled up with too many cars and predators.
When I first saw this on a tree trunk in the distance..I thought it was some kind of odd tree fungus…
But look at that..an Eastern Red Bat. The Red bat was doing exactly what they do during the day,  resting on a tree. This is our most common forest bat in North America. They usually rest hanging higher up in trees..and look like leaves dangling. This one chose to roost lower on the tree trunk.  She did not fly off when I approached, so I had plenty of time to observe her. After I left, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
So long from the Bolin Creek forest.

–Mary