Surprise in the Dog Food Sack - Three Young Opossums

We found three small possums in the dog food sack this morning. Here in Mexico they're called zarigüeyas (sorry-WAY-us) or more commonly tlacuaches (tlah-CWAH-chase). There's an early account of zarigüeyas from Spanish colonial times which described them as “a monstrous beast with a snout like a fox, a tail like a marmoset, ears like a bat, hands like a man, and feet like an ape, bearing her whelps about with her in an outward belly much like a large bag or purse.” The opossum (tlacuache) has spread more than 800 kilometers further north than its distribution at the time that odd observation was written. That put them well into the U.S. The success of the species has been partly due to a pacific co-existence with humans, eating garden refuse and rubbish, but not damaging crops. In addition, it has a remarkable talent for finding food and remembering exactly where it was found. In laboratory tests opossums out-remember cats, chicks, dogs, goats, pigs, turtles and even rats.