They prefer wet areas, however, especially streams and swamps. In the southeast United States, they have been hunted for food. Opossum pelts are abundant in the fur market, which results in a low price. Negative Sometimes opossums enter into hen houses. Conservation Adapted well to the presence of humans.
Opossums appear to be extending their geographic range.
In this, the animal fakes death to thwart an attack, and reaches a state of catatonia. When America was first colonized by Europeans, these possums did not occur north of Pennsylvania. As time passed, they moved north and westward on the Great Plains. In 1890, they were introduced to California. They spread on the west coast.