Mammals

(WORK IN PROGRESS!)

1. Beaver
2. Opossum (Possum)
3. Rabbit (Eastern Cottontail)
4. Raccoon
5. River Otter (aka Otter)

1. Beaver:



2. Opossum (Possum) Didelphis virgininana

• Length: head and body, 13 1/2 - 21" long; tail, 9 1/2 - 20" long.
• Description: Nose long, pointed, pinkish, white face; large leaflike ears; tail long, rounded, sparsely haired; pale gray in northern states, darker in southern states.
• Habitat: Farmland, forests; usually near water.
• Notes: North America's only marsupial (pouched animal) bears litters of up to 14, each about the size of a honeybee. Immediately after birth the newborn crawl into their mother's pouch, where they nurse for several months. After emerging from the pouch, they ride on their mother's back for another few weeks. As their 50 teeth (more than those of any other North American land mammal) develop, the young switch from mother's milk to a diverse diet of insects, other small animals, birds' eggs, mushrooms, grain crops, fruit, and carrion. They are most active at night and will occasionally "play possum" when cornered or frightened, curling up into a trancelike state that may last several hours. It's commonly believed that potential predators then may leave them for dead and seek a live prey elsewhere.