Motherhood is never easy, especially for an opossum mother.  Just look at these little ones hanging on for dear life!  Baby opossums start life no larger than a peanut.  They make their way way into their mother’s pouch, where they grow quickly until they run out of room.  Then they climb onto their mother’s back and ride around learning opossum behavior. 

Once they grow into juveniles, there is no longer enough room for them to ride.  Plus they become rather heavy and will lose their grip.  At this time, the juveniles will slip off their mother’s back one at a time and go their own way.  Many people will find a smaller juvenile opossum and mistake it for a baby.  Once the juvenile is too big to ride on its mother, it will continue its own journey to adulthood alone.