what do opossums eat?
The Virginia Opossum is the only animal that can properly be called an Opossum. Opossums have an extremely broad diet and are classified as omnivores, meaning they eat plants and animals. The primary food source for an Opossum is carrion. In short carrion can be defined as any dead animal.
Other than carrion, Opossums eat all types of small animals such as small birds, frogs, snakes, frogs, maggots and earthworms. The plant life eaten by the Virginia Opossum are fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms. Opossums are also well known to eat any sort of human food, and are particularly fond of dog and cat food.
Note: The difference between the opossum and possum relates to the hemisphere the animal is a native of. The Opossums come from the Western Hemisphere (North and South America). The article for the Possum from the Eastern Hemisphere may be found under the What do possums eat? article.
Image courtesy of wikipedia under GNU:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Opossum_2.jpg
