Opossum

The Virginia opossum is a primitive-looking marsupial that has spread across the eastern and central United States, turning attics, woodpiles, and alleyways into nightly foraging routes. With a hairless prehensile tail, pointed snout, and fifty sharp teeth, it looks ancient — and in evolutionary terms, it is.

When threatened, opossums may hiss and bare teeth, but their famous defence is thanatosis: collapsing into a stiff, unconscious state that convinces many predators the animal is already dead. They recover within minutes once the danger passes.

Opossums are generalists of temperate woodland, farmland edges, and urban neighbourhoods. They den in hollow logs, crawl spaces, and brush piles, emerging at night to eat fruit, insects, carrion, and pet food left outdoors.