Virginia Opossum Opossums mature very quickly. Males can mate at eight months and females at six months. Mating takes place in the spring in Ontario, Canada, and neighbouring states of the United States, and sometimes again in mid-summer.
Males fight each other savagely to get females, occasionally killing one another.
Opossums are omnivorous and eat almost anything, including small animals, dead animals, insects, frogs and toads, birds and their eggs, fruits, vegetables, and garbage. They live in open wooded areas. Originally opossums lived only as far north as Virginia and Ohio. But people have killed off many of their enemies and made more open wooded areas that they like. Their ability to put on much fat helps keep them warm even though their fur is sparse or missing on parts of their bodies.