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Population

The opossum is common in wooded areas througout Pennsylvania. On a continental scale, it ranges from southeastern Canada south through New England to Florida, west to Minnesota, Nebraska, and Texas, and south to Middle America. It has been introduced in several western states.

Opossums are unspecialized animals that can utilize a variety of foods and habitats. The species has expanded its range north and west during the past century. As far as is known, the population is holding steady - or perhaps increasing.

Habitat

Opossums are at home in farmland and woodland lots, preferring fields, brushy woods, open woods - in dry or wet terrain, and at varying elevations. They inhabit suburbs and the edges of towns where food and cover are available. Ideal habitat is bottomland woods surrounding steams.

An opossum's range depends on food availability and the individual's tendency to wander. In Maryland, biologists found that opossums had elongated rather than circular ranges (cirgular being the pattern of most other land-based wildlife), following the edges of rivers and streams. The average home range for each in a sample of 25 miles was 0.6 miles.

Where food is plentiful, an opossum may range only a few hundred yards; in intensely cultivated areas, where fencecrows, rocky fields, and reverting fields have been cleared for crops, an opossum would have to range farther (up to two miles) to find food.

Habitat management aimed at helping other wildlife often benefits opossums. Forest thinning and edge planting stimulate the growth of food, food-producing plants (blackberries, wild grapes, etc.) and create thick cover for esacpe or daytime loafing. When managing a woodlot, sparing old wolf trees (wide-spreading trees with little timber value) preserves the hollow limbs utilized by opossums. Well-managed game habitat, such as a state game land or refuge, provides many forms of wildlife with ample food and cover.

Source: Wildlife Notes, , PA Game Commission, Bureau of Information and Education.

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