The Virginia opossum is not a native Washington animal, but its record shows how thoroughly it has settled in. Of 831 records, the great majority sit in the western lowlands, with Pierce and King counties well ahead of the rest, a map of the mild, settled corridor from Puget Sound south to the Columbia.
An eastern marsupial that moved west
The opossum is North America’s only marsupial, an omnivorous climber with a gripping tail and opposable hind toes, native to the eastern and central United States. It was carried west and released in the Pacific states in the early twentieth century, and in Washington it took hold where wet, moderate winters soften the cold that limits it farther north. Records around Lake Sammamish, the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and the Mount Saint Helens-Shillapoo Wildlife Area trace that lowland stronghold.
Most reported in spring
Opossums do not hibernate, and Washington’s record stays alive in every month, but reports climb through early spring to an April and May peak, when females carry pouch young and newly independent animals begin wandering into yards and greenbelts. Come winter the pace slackens, as opossums den up through cold snaps rather than brave the wet chill.
Status in Washington
NatureServe treats the Virginia opossum as exotic in Washington and assigns it no state conservation rank, listed as SNA, Not Applicable, because the species is not part of the state’s native fauna. It remains secure globally at G5, and it is not specifically listed under Washington’s state-level conservation framework.
Full species profile
