Why Leelanau Blog
Opossum, Our Quiet Neighbor on Gills Pier
The winter visitors are here, including this sweet little ‘possum, who comes in the early evenings to eat the apple pieces that he loves. We watch outside our kitchen window where a floodlight helps us observe the night-time creatures around us whose domain we are so fortunate to share. This little guy can’t see well with his tiny eyes (thus his kind are often fatalities by the roadsides), but his sense of smell is acute. His whole demeanor seems shy and gentle. When he walks those little pink feet sort of splay out and he waddles away quickly if he hears a strange sound. Like any animal he would be fierce if he was threatened, or might “play ‘possum”, but otherwise he’s quiet and solitary. Opossums have extended their range north as our climate warms, and we are at the upper edge; they are the only marsupials in N. America, and carry their tiny (2 oz.) young in a pouch; their species dates to prehistoric times.
How fortunate we are to live here, now.
– Kathie Snedeker, Gills Pier, MI