What Is An Opossum's Natural Diet?

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The opossum is an animal that has adapted its diet to suit the food sources that are available, and this is one of the reasons why it has been so successful as a species, adapting to life alongside humans. While the diet that urban opossums that scavenge from the leftovers of people, an opossum's natural diet is quite different, but also has plenty of variety as it finds in urban areas. The opossum is generally an opportunist which eats what is available at the time, which means that what an opossum eats in one area will not be the same as what it can find somewhere else.



Small Animals

An opossum's digestive system is designed to deal with all types of food, and when it comes to meat an opossum will eat all manner of smaller animals which can include mice, lizards and even small birds. With the ability to climb into trees and to move along the ground, the opossum has a large area where it can be catching smaller animals, and as it has a fondness for eggs too, these animals play a sizable role in the opossum's diet.

Fruits And Seeds

While fruit and seeds may be seasonal, they are very easy to find in many cases, and with an opossum only roaming around a relatively small area, the opossum will know the best place to find fruits that are in season. With its excellent digestive system, the opossum will also be able to consume a range of seeds and nuts, which also contribute to its diet.

Foliage, Grass And Other Plant Matter

The opossum will not always go to plant matter as its first point of call for food, but when there are limited other food sources available, the animal can extract some nutritional value from leaves, grass and anything else that grows. This will usually make up a smaller proportion of the diet than the other two main categories, it does still contribute to the opossum's diet.

An Opossum's Foraging Technique

Opossums will generally have a small area that they will cover, and are usually solitary animals that avoid contact with other animals unless they are looking to mate. While roaming their terrain, they will look for the easiest food sources available, and take advantage of what is available at the time, returning to sites where they have found food regularly. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does opossum removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of opossums - my main opossum removal info guide.
Example opossum trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Opossum job blog - learn from great examples of opossum jobs I've done.