Opossum Diet – Humane Wildlife Removal

What does an opossum's diet consist of?

Opossums are incredibly interesting animals for a number of reasons. To begin, they are the only marsupial native to North America. They also are firmly omnivorous in their eating habits. This means they will feed on all types of foods, including:

Fruits
Nuts
Seeds
Grains
Beans

Peas
Insects
Spiders
Slugs
Snakes

Birds
Bird eggs
Shellfish
Mice
Carrion (dead animals)

As you can see, opossums feed on a wide variety of foods, just like us! Because there is no specific region that an opossum is native to, there is no definitive list of foods that is in each and every animal’s diet. Instead, their diet is dictated by the time of year and the type of environment that they inhabit.

During winter and spring months, opossums likely feed on small mammals, while during the summer they will likely be consuming a lot of slugs. Later in the year, during the fall, opossums will feed on fruits and vegetables as they become ready to harvest. But this is highly based on the availability of resources.

For example, an opossum that lives in the forest will likely eat many more ticks, seeds, nuts, fruits, and small animals than an opossum that lives in a more urban area. In these urban areas, an opossum is more likely to try and get into garbage cans to scavenge for whatever snacks they might find inside.

Another primary source of food for many opossums is the roadkill we leave behind when we are driving. You may find this strange due to the fact that most of the roadkill you see is in fact opossums, but this is actually related.

Opossums are smart enough that they have figured out our roads are a source of food. Being nocturnal, they spend their nights walking along highways while searching for something to eat.

It is during this hunting trip that many opossums end up becoming roadkill instead of finding some to eat.