I now have 3 young opossums in my backyard, they are very young.

[texanwitch]

This makes 6 opossums I feed, the young ones are really hungry.

I buy catfood in the big bags.

[uppityperson]

1. I don't understand. We chase them off here.

Opossums are not a favorite around here. Bet they are cute though.

[texanwitch]

2. The little ones are really cute, I think something might happened to mom.

I had a dog that killed a opossum and her babies so I take care of the opossums now.

They live the old shed in the back of the yard.

[sammythecat]

3. Possums are actually harmless and beneficial.

They do not dig. The only burrows they use are abandoned by some other animal. They are not the least bit aggressive, and because of their low body temperature they do not carry the rabies virus.
Their diet is mostly insects like lawn grubs or most anything else lying around.

Also they are not Territorial. They'll stick around wherever there is a food source. Food source goes away, possums go away.

There is no reason to harm a possum and it's kind of you to have pity on the little ones. You probably are already aware of these things I mentioned. I just said them in case someone else who has the wrong notion about possums is reading this. They're generally detested and it's undeserved. Maybe when they're big enough you can wean them off the free food and they'll most likely move on. What's big enough, I have no idea. But, of course, Google knows. :)

[peekaloo]

4. Nature's garbage disposals.

Instead of throwing away leftovers feed them to the O-Pees.

Funny thing is they won't touch those processed bags of salad.

[MnFats]

5. we get a few here, though it's about the northern end of the range..

..
they're not equipped for the cold....their tails and ears have no fur, so they're prone to frostbite. If you see one it might be missing a bit of ear or the tip of its tail....

they are ugly creatures....so ugly they're cute, you know?

[marzipanni]

6. I was looking up some facts about rats in my 1984 world almanac and also found this

Opossums' gestation period is only 14-17 days and they only live about 1 year, whereas even a meadow mouse's gestation takes 21 days, and their average longevity is 3 years.

One night, years ago, my old dog was barking in the kitchen. I was kind of scared to discover what he was barking at, but turned on the light only to find an opossum clattering around the dog's enameled metal bowl. It had wandered in the cat door, so I took the dog to the bedroom, closing the door to the kitchen on the way out so the little visitor could find his way out the same way he came in. He didn't 'play dead' when my dog ran toward him before I could grab the dog's collar.

A couple of weeks ago I went outside with a flashlight to see why our dog wasn't coming in at bedtime. She was staring up into the mulberry tree where an opossum was peering down at her. I hadn't seen one for years.

[xchrom]

7. good for you -- i love opossums --

and everything is always beating up on them.

nice to hear a good story.