Delaware’s 119 opossum records lean toward New Castle County but reach all three, and they span the length of the state, from First State National Historical Park in the north to Delaware Seashore State Park at the coast. This is a species that turns up wherever woods, water, and people mix.
The continent’s only marsupial
The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial in North America north of Mexico. A female carries her tiny newborns in a pouch for about two months, after which the joeys ride on her back while she forages. It is a solitary night wanderer with a gripping tail, an opposable hind thumb for climbing, and an omnivorous appetite that runs from fruit and insects to carrion, which is why so many Delaware sightings happen along roadsides. Its famous death-feint, going limp with tongue lolling, is involuntary, an animal passed out from fright rather than acting.
Out in every month
Opossums do not hibernate, and Delaware’s record shows them abroad in every month of the year, even January. Winter is genuinely hard on them: bare ears and tails take frostbite, and a bad cold spell can kill. The species has been pushing northward for well over a century, and Delaware’s mild Coastal Plain winters suit it well.
Status in Delaware
NatureServe ranks the Virginia opossum S5, Secure, in Delaware, and it is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
