Opossums (early Bird Nature Books)

by Sally M. Walker THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK by Sally M. Walker Lerner Publications Company • Minneapolis The photographs in this book are used with the permission of: © Maslowski Productions, pp. 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 22, 23, 30, 33, 37, 38, 43; © Steve Maslowski/Visuals Unlimited, pp. 6, 26; © FLPA/Alamy, p. 7; © John Cancalosi/Peter Arnold, Inc., p. 9 (left); © Mark Hamblin/Oxford Scientif ic Films/Photolibrary, pp. 9 (right), 13; © Lynn M. Stone/naturepl.com, p. 14; © Steve Maslowski/Visuals Unlimited/Getty Images, pp. 15, 32; © Rolf Nussbaumer/Alamy, p. 16; © Greg Vaughn/Alamy, p. 17; © Gary Randall/Visuals Unlimited, p. 18; © Gay Bumgarner/Alamy, p. 19; © David Newman/Visuals Unlimited, p. 20; © Jeffrey Lepore/Photo Researchers, Inc., p, 21; © Joe McDonald/Visuals Unlimited, p. 24; © Kenneth M. Highf ill/Photo Researchers, Inc., p. 25; © Leonard Lee Rue III/Visuals Unlimited, p. 27; © Konrad Wothe/Minden Pictures, pp. 28, 35; © Mary Mcdonald/npl/Minden Pictures, p. 29; © Garry Walter/Visuals Unlimited, pp. 31, 36, 48 (top); age fotostock/SuperStock, pp. 34, 39, 47; © Jack Milchanowski/Visuals Unlimited, p. 40; © Howard Stapleton/Alamy, p. 41; © Kitchin & Hurst/leesonphoto, p. 42; © SuperStock, Inc./SuperStock, p. 46; © Mark Graf/Alamy, p. 48 (bottom). Front Cover: © Ethan Meleg/All Canada Photos/Getty Images Illustration on p. 5 by © Laura Westlund/Independent Picture Service Copyright © 2008 by Sally M. Walker All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Lerner Publications Company A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Walker, Sally M. Opossums / by Sally M. Walker. p. cm. — (Early bird nature books) Includes index. ISBN 978–0–8225–3055–8 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Opossums—Juvenile literature. I. Title. QL737.M34W35 2008 599.2'76—dc22 2007019775 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – JR – 13 12 11 10 09 08 eISBN-13: 978-0-7613-3981-6 Contents Be a Word Detective . .........5 Chapter 1 The Opossum . . . . . . . . . 6 Chapter 2 Nighttime Hunters . . . 16 Chapter 3 Opossum Babies. . . . . . 22 Chapter 4 Dangers for Opossums. . . . . . . . . . . . 34 On Sharing a Book . . . . . . . . . . 44 A NOTE TO ADULTS Learn More about Opossums . Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . 46 . . . 48 ALASKA (USA) CANADA N U N I T E D S TAT E S Opossums (uh-PAH-sums) live in many places. The striped areas show where opossums live in North America. MEXICO Be a Word Detective Can you find these words as you read about the opossum’s life? Be a detective and try to f igure out what they mean. You can turn to the glossary on page 46 for help. carrion dens habitats litter marsupials marsupium nocturnal opposable toe predators prehensile wean 5 Chapter 1 This furry animal is an opossum. Where does the name opossum come from? The Opossum The sun sets. The leaves on a bush start to rustle. A pointy nose pokes through the leaves. It sniffs the nighttime air. Suddenly a furry animal scoots from under the bush. It is an opossum. 6 The name opossum comes from the Native American wo