The opossum is omnivorous, feeding on almost anything it can find or catch. You may have noticed this if you found one pawing through your garbage can. Ticks, particularly deer ticks, are a main item on the opossum’s menu! An opossum’s voracious diet consists of carrion, rodents, snakes, insects, slugs, frogs, plants, fruits, and garbage. They catch and eat rats and mice. Opossums are the “sanitation workers of the wild”! They have an unusually high need for calcium, motivating them to eat the skeletons of rodents and road kill. That habit gets about 8.3 million opossums killed a year!
Ideal opossum habitat is woodland, farmland, and suburban neighborhoods with water nearby. They are common visitors to backyards that provide the basic necessities, such as a source of water, food and appropriate den sites. Opossums are not particular, but gravitate toward areas with reliable water access. Although they spend most of time inland or in trees, opossums will head to the water to escape predators. Opossums can swim both underwater and along the surface.