What Do Opossums Eat?

Opossums are omnivores with incredibly diverse diets. They readily eat fruits and berries including apples, chokecherry, dwarf raspberry, and common pawpaw when in season. Nuts and seeds, particularly from American beech and other trees, provide important nutrition when available. Opossums hunt small animals including insects, spiders, snakes, and small mammals like mice and rats. They eat Common Five-lined Skinks, small snakes, and other reptiles. Insects constitute a significant portion of their diet, including Common Aerial Yellowjackets and other wasps, beetles, and grubs. Opossums scavenge freely, eating carrion and dead animals that they encounter. This scavenging behavior makes opossums valuable for cleaning up dead wildlife. Opossums also eat vegetation including various leaves, roots, and plant matter. Their flexible digestive system allows them to process a wide variety of foods. No other North American mammal matches the opossum's dietary flexibility. This adaptability has made opossums successful across diverse habitats.

Opossum diet changes dramatically with the seasons, following availability of natural foods. In spring, opossums focus on insects, grubs, and newly available vegetation. Fresh growth provides important nutrients after winter scarcity. Fruits remain less available in spring. In summer, opossums gorge on ripening fruits and berries. Apples, berries, and other fruits become primary foods as they ripen. Insects remain abundant and are still hunted frequently. Some vegetation is eaten fresh. In fall, opossums eat heavily to prepare for winter, consuming apples, chokecherries, pawpaws, and other fall fruits abundantly. Seeds and nuts become available and are consumed in quantity. Small animals and insects continue to be hunted. In winter, opossums subsist mainly on whatever they can find, including carrion, stored food, and persistent plant matter. Winter is the most challenging season. Opossums do not hibernate or put on fat stores like other mammals, so they forage throughout winter. In southern regions, more fresh food remains available year-round, softening these seasonal swings.

Opossum diet varies across different habitats and regions of North America. In eastern deciduous forests, opossums have access to abundant acorns, hickory nuts, fruits, and forest insects. They thrive in these energy-rich habitats. In more open woodlands and grasslands, opossums find fewer tree fruits but more small animals and insects to hunt. Opossums in agricultural areas feed heavily on crop remains, fallen fruit, and garden plants. Suburban opossums living near human homes rely increasingly on garbage and bird feeders. Coastal opossums in California may access different plant species including native shrubs and fruits. Southern opossums like those in Texas and Florida access year-round vegetation and can find insects and small animals in every season. Northern opossums in harsh climates must work harder to find food in winter. Regional plant species determine which fruits and nuts are available. Different regions support different populations of insects and small animals. Opossums in each region have learned to exploit local food sources effectively. Their willingness to eat almost anything allows them to thrive wherever they occur.

Opossums are primarily solitary foragers that search for food on the ground and in trees. They hunt at night, using their excellent senses of smell and hearing to locate prey. Small animals like mice, rats, and insects are caught through stalking and pouncing. Opossums climb trees proficiently, hunting for eggs, nestlings, and tree-dwelling insects. They forage through fallen leaves and debris seeking grubs, earthworms, and other invertebrates. When encountering carrion, opossums simply consume it without hesitation. This scavenging behavior is crucial to their diet. They readily enter garbage cans and composts if access is available. Opossums have a strong sense of smell that helps them locate food. Once they find a productive feeding area, they return repeatedly. They move slowly and deliberately while foraging, examining their surroundings thoroughly. Unlike predators that hunt large prey, opossums take what they can find easily. They will eat insects from standing dead wood, tear apart rotting logs, or flip over objects seeking hidden prey. Learn more about opossum foraging techniques to understand this thorough but slow foraging style that suits their primarily solitary lifestyle.

Baby opossums, called joeys, spend their early weeks in the mother's pouch, living entirely on milk. Joeys remain in the pouch for seven to ten weeks depending on conditions. Around this time, they begin emerging from the pouch for short periods. Young opossums begin experimenting with solid food while still dependent on mother's milk. They follow their mother while she forages and learn what foods to eat through observation and imitation. Riding on the mother's back, young opossums observe her food choices directly. By twelve weeks old, joeys are fully weaned and independent, eating solid food exclusively. Young opossums must learn what is edible and what is dangerous through trial and error. Some young opossums may attempt to eat plants or animals that adults would avoid. As they mature, they become more selective and efficient foragers. Juvenile opossums explore extensively during their first months, sampling diverse foods and learning their local food sources. By adulthood, opossums have identified productive foraging sites and preferred foods. The learning period takes only a few weeks, after which young opossums are essentially independent.

Opossums living near human homes have access to abundant food sources not available to wild opossums. They readily enter open garbage cans, compost bins, and dumpsters seeking food scraps. Pet food left outside becomes a favorite opossum food. Bird feeders and fallen birdseed attract opossums regularly. Opossums eat vegetables and fruits from gardens, particularly soft ripe produce. They climb fruit trees and eat ripening apples, pawpaws, and other fruits. Opossums also hunt insects and small animals in yards, eating grubs, earthworms, and crickets. In urban and suburban areas, carrion becomes more available as hit wildlife accumulates. This abundance of food makes residential areas highly attractive to opossums. To coexist peacefully, remove food sources by securing garbage cans, bringing in pet food at night, and cleaning up fallen fruit. Do not feed opossums intentionally. Unlike some animals, opossums do not become aggressive when fed but they do lose their natural wariness. Opossums in residential areas, including Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Washington, thrive despite the environmental change.

Opossums' omnivorous diet differs markedly from most other North American mammals. Raccoons are similarly omnivorous and eat many of the same foods including garbage, fruits, and small animals. However, raccoons are larger and more powerful, hunting larger prey more successfully. Raccoons are also more exclusively carnivorous than opossums in many regions. Foxes are primarily carnivorous, hunting larger prey like rabbits and voles, though they also eat berries and vegetation. Possums in Australia, which are marsupials but not closely related to North American opossums, eat primarily vegetation and insects. Skunks are omnivorous like opossums and eat similar foods including grubs, insects, garbage, and vegetation. However, skunks are better hunters of larger prey and rely less heavily on scavenging. Bears are also omnivorous but are much larger and hunt much larger prey. Opossums occupy a unique ecological niche as generalist scavengers that clean up carrion and garbage efficiently. This scavenging role is rare and valuable in ecosystems. The opossum's willingness to eat almost anything makes them remarkably adaptable compared to most other mammals.