Most likely your colonial ancestors were familiar with opossums……….. perhaps they ate them too? Sometimes in thinking about blog post topics that might interest you, I get to musing about things we know little about but what our ancestors might have been quite familiar with. Such as opossums.
The word opossum is derived from the Powhatan language and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith. They were described as a “beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike.”
While there are over 126 species of this marsupial, only the Virginia Opossum is found in the U.S. and Canada, and is commonly referred to as “possum.”
Opossums are non-aggressive, never carry rabies and when threatened or harmed, they will “play possum” mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal.
Opossums are mainly found in the Eastern U.S. and along the Pacific Coast. They eat insects, rodents, birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruit and grain. Female opossums can give birth up to twenty babies but depending on the mother’s number of teats, not all will survive. A possum is a marsupial which means the joeys are born early and must make their way into the mother’s pouch; they are weaned at between 70-125 days when they detach from the mother’s pouch.
For a long time, there have been opossum jokes:
What do you call a possum laying in the middle of the road?
Obviously, it is a Himalayan possum.
You did find Himalayan in the middle of the road……………
Joleen Aitchison has been involved in genealogical endeavors since she was a child, and continues the search. She is a member of APG, the Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society, and the consulting genealogist for Traditions of the Ancestors (TOTA). Joleen has presented at various events throughout the US and is a returning speaker for us at HQRL. 