. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. 1911 1912 Australian Wallaby Skins 1,003,820 540,608 Australian Kangaroo Skins 21,648 16,193 1,025,468 556,801 Most pouched mammals are strictly herbivorous, butsome, like the opossum and Tasmanian wolf, are true flesh-eaters. THE OPOSSUM FAMILY Didelphyidae The New World contains more than twenty species ofomnivorous animals, varying in size from a large cat to a smallrat, mostly provided with long, hairless tails that are fullyprehensile, and always well clad with fine and abundanthair.
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. 1911 1912 Australian Wallaby Skins 1,003,820 540,608 Australian Kangaroo Skins 21,648 16,193 1,025,468 556,801 Most pouched mammals are strictly herbivorous, butsome, like the opossum and Tasmanian wolf, are true flesh-eaters. THE OPOSSUM FAMILY Didelphyidae The New World contains more than twenty species ofomnivorous animals, varying in size from a large cat to a smallrat, mostly provided with long, hairless tails that are fullyprehensile, and always well clad with fine and abundanthair. In all species save a few the female possesses theabdominal pouch to which every marsupial female is some species, however, it is either rudimentary or whollylacking. These animals are the Opossums, and while themajority of the species are confined to South America, our 190 POUCHED MAMMALS North American representative is about as widely known asall the tropical species combined. The Virginia Opossum^ is a typical marsupial, butdiffers widely from all the Australian members of that VIRGINIA OPOSSUMS. Seemingly it is a dull-witted, slow-moving creature, and so ill-fitted by Nature either to fight or to run away, that it mightbe considered almost defenceless. But let us see what usethis odd little animal makes of the physical and mental equip-ment which Nature has given it. It eats almost everything that can be chewed,—wild fruit,berries, green corn, insect larvae, eggs, young birds andquadrupeds, soft-shelled nuts and certain roots. It is agood climber, and has a very useful prehensile tail. It for- ^ Di-delphis vir-gin-i-ana. HABITS OF THE OPOSSUM 191 ages on the ground quite as successfully as a raccoon. Usu-ally it burrows under the roots of a large tree, where it isimpossible for a hunter to dig it out, but sometimes it makesthe mistake of entering a hollow log. Like the bear and wood-chuck, it stores up under its skin a plentiful supply of fat forwinte
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