Westchester possums belong to the same family as of raccoons which are known for their climbing abilities. This might make you ponder that possums too are master in climbing trees! But it is not correct. Possums are nocturnal terrestrial animals like human beings and most of their time is spent on ground. So, they don’t live in trees as climbing is not a habit which they have adopted. They might climb trees in search of their prey, but it takes effort for them to climb up. So, if you find opossums on the tree then this means that they are eyeing a major prey or trying to save themselves from their predators. Only in these circumstances, possums climb trees. Here are few reasons why possums prefer to stay close to the ground!



Where do Westchester possums make their nesting area?
Possums are also known as terrestrial cuckoo! This is because possums never make their own nest or roosting area. Rather, they take cover in nests and den which are abandoned by other animals. They also look for shelter under the rocks, buildings, hollow trees, fallen logs. In other words, they look for readymade home and just shift in with their nesting material. In respect of their nests, you can compare possums with rats! They curl up and sleep in their den rather than climbing trees.

Possums are creative through other mediums in escaping from predators
Possums are also creative and innovative animals because of two reasons. One because they don’t make their own nest and rather re-occupy the abandoned home. Second because they use an unusual technique to get rid of their predators. If they sense that their predator is approaching, then they try and climb trees if predator is not good at it. This means that they will not try this technique if they have cat behind them! In such cases, the animals lay still upside down in a manner as if it is dead. Like skunks, they can also release foul odour, but it doesn’t have far reach! They release that odour while staying in this pose and as the predator approaches its body, it thinks that it has been dead for some while and hence stinking. Not all predators like to eat ‘sour’ meal and thus they turn away fooled and leave it alone! This is the basic strategy which they follow with predators like bears, foxes as they know that it is difficult to hide from them!

Because of their master strategy, they don’t put efforts in climbing trees!

They are nocturnal
Possums are nocturnal animals and their vision is equivalent to null in day light. Therefore, they look for closed spaces where they can form their den. Trees are the most common locations for predators to hunt their food and since possums can’t see during day time, it becomes extremely challenging for them to protect themselves during the day. They can get hunted if they make their nests in trees. This is another reason why they don’t make their nests in trees!

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