
Adopt An Animal symbolically from World Animal Foundation. Your WAF Adopt An Animal Kit comes in a Deluxe WAF Folder and includes: Glossy Photo of Your Adopted Animal; Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate; Fact Sheet About Your Adopted Animal; Help Animals Info Cards Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment. Adopt An Animal for Yourself or as a Gift...
Adopt An Opossum From World Animal Foundation
Your World Animal Foundation Adopt An Opossum Kit comes in a Deluxe WAF Folder and includes:
Adopt An Opossum Kits make great gifts and can be sent directly to the recipient. Simply supply the recipient's name and mailing address as shipping information. We'll even include a letter stating the Adopt An Animal Kit is from you.
WAF's Adopt An Animal symbolic adoption is a one time fee and helps the World Animal Foundation to preserve the planet and protect its animals. Adopt an animal for yourself or order an Adopt An Animal Kit as a gift. Help make a difference for animals - Adopt An Animal Today!
Adopt An Opossum: Help World Animal Foundation Make A Difference For Animals!
Often called endearingly ugly, opossums are the only family of marsupials to inhabit the Americas. Originating in South America, these unusual-looking little mammals gradually migrated to Central and North America around three million years ago when the volcanic bridge between the two continents arose from the sea floor, and opossums have migrated further and further north (into southern Ontario, for example) as climate change has allowed them to survive the winter season in many areas.
Grouped under the family Didelphidae, their name itself is borrowed from the word in Powhatan language meaning ‘white dog’, and was first recorded in the 1600’s by colonists in Jamestown, Virginia. Although the words ‘possum’ and ‘opossum’ are used interchangeably by many, especially in the southern states, ‘possum’ is generally the term used by scientists and naturalists to describe only the opossum’s related marsupial cousins in Australia.
Significantly different in appearance than their Outback relatives, opossums are small to medium sized, with species ranging from around mouse size to housecat stature. Species in tropical regions of Central and South America tend to be smaller than their North American counterparts. Although their lifespan in captivity may be as long as five years, in their natural habitat opossums don’t generally tend to live past the age of two years. They have long snouts, narrow skulls and jaws, and an impressive number of teeth; more than any other mammals in the Americas, in fact, making them look rather alarming in the middle of an open-mouthed hiss. An opossum’s coat is solely made up of medium length awn hairs (insulating intermediate hair) and can range from grey to black, with lighter fur on their faces, while their noses, feet and tail are usually pink and fairly hairless. Although they’re perfectly comfortable walking flat-footed on the ground, many opossum species spend quite a large amount of time in the trees, clinging to branches and tree trunks and assisted by opposable digits on their hind feet. Their tails are also helpful appendages as well; although adult opossums can’t actually dangle from trees with those hind parts (dispelling a common misconception about them). Their tails are still somewhat prehensile, helping opossums to balance and brace themselves as they climb.
These plucky little animals are tremendously resilient, and definitely aren’t picky when it comes to mealtime. All possums are opportunistic omnivores, eating what’s available seasonally and in their location, so their diet may consist of everything from garbage, pet food, small rodents, insects and grubs, to frogs, plants and berries. Even freshwater molluscs and crayfish are fair game for water-preferring opossums. They also have a strong immune system and, surprisingly, many opossum species are partly or even totally immune to select poisons and the venom of poisonous snakes like rattlesnakes and cottonmouths. Opossums are also highly resistant to the rabies virus – they’re eight times less likely to carry rabies than dogs or other wild canids.
Although they can put on a terrific show that’s capable of scaring off possible predators, opossums are more about defence than offence, rarely attacking when they’re threatened. With the exception of a mother and her offspring, they tend to live and forage for food alone, remaining in shallow burrows, tree holes or other hidden areas through the day and becoming more active at night as they hunt. When they encounter natural enemies like coyotes, wolves, bobcats, owls and dogs, opossums will hiss or growl if threatened, but can also display a very curious defensive behavior as well – playing ‘dead’ to imitate the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal to deter an attack. This is a physiological response, and during an episode their bodies will become stiff and curled, the eyes will be closed, teeth bared, and a pungent, smelly fluid is released from their anal glands. An opossum can remain in this state for anywhere between 40 minutes and 4 hours.
True marsupials, opossums have a distinctive way of reproducing and carrying their offspring. Females have a divided uterus and vaginal structure, as well as a pouch, while males possess a forked penis. Males are somewhat larger than females, on average, with larger canines. They’ll often begin their search for a female by making a clicking ‘smack’ sound as they search. After mating, the opossum gestation period is only 12 to 14 days. The young are born extremely early and completely blind, deaf and hairless. Offspring must then crawl through their mother’s fur to reach the pouch, where they then latch on to a teat, staying there to nurse and grow throughout the next few months. Opossums generally have large litters, since many offspring fail to find an available teat in the pouch and perish shortly after a female gives birth, but litter sizes up to 13 pups are fairly common, and opossums can produce anywhere from 1 to 3 litters every year. Although most opossum mothers are responsible for the entirety of care, the yapok is an unusual opossum species. One of the only semi-aquatic marsupials, it has the distinction of being the only marsupial species in which both male and female have a pouch. Possum offspring usually wean and leave their safe pouch around 70 to 100 days old, but hitch a ride on their mother’s back after that, staying close to their dam until they’re at least four or five months old.
THREATS TO OPOSSUMS
Although opossums were once commonly hunted in the USA for both their pelt and for the stew pot, these days they’re more typically hunted in the Dominican, Grenada and Trinidad for food. Their ability to reproduce quickly means that they’re quite populous throughout the Americas, with no opossum currently on the endangered species list. Since they are nomadic, particularly when hunting for food, they tend to be frequent victims of collisions with cars.
Your World Animal Foundation Adopt An Animal Kit comes in a Deluxe WAF Folder and includes:
Glossy Photo Of Your Adopted Animal; Adopt An Animal Adoption Certificate; Fact Sheet About Your Adopted Animal; Help Animals Info Cards Packed With Information On Animal Issues & How You Can Help Animals And The Environment.
WAF's Adopt An Animal symbolic adoption is a one time fee and helps the World Animal Foundation to preserve the planet and protect its animals. Adopt an animal for yourself or order an Adopt An Animal Kit as a gift. Help make a difference for animals - Adopt An Animal Today!
Adopt An Animal Kits make great gifts and can be sent directly to the recipient:
Simply supply the recipient's name and mailing address as shipping information. We'll even include a letter stating the Adopt An Animal Kit is from you.
Why Adopt An Animal From World Animal Foundation?
Many of the planet’s most iconic and beloved animals are in trouble, and World Animal Foundation needs your help to save them. You can make a difference for wildlife and domestic animals by adopting an animal from World Animal Foundation for yourself, or adopting an animal as gift. Adopting an animal is the perfect gift for a loved one who loves animals, and helps to support World Animal Foundation's critical mission of preserving and protecting the planet and the animals that inhabit it.
The world is teaming with an amazing diversity of animals. Some species are beautiful, others bizarre — but they all are important to the ecosystem and deserve our respect, compassion and protection. Unfortunately, many animal species are declining at a rapid rate as a result of irresponsible human activities. Habitat destruction, pollution, hunting, poor agricultural practices and changes in climate are among the threats faced by wildlife and domestic animals. World Animal Foundation's Adopt An Animal program allows you to symbolically adopt your favorite animal species while supporting our important work of protecting wildlife, companion animals, farm animals and the environment.
Adopt An Animal contributions help provide critical financial support needed to preserve and protect some of the world's most imperiled and abused animals, and to combat the global forces that threaten wildlife, companion animals, farm animals and the planet. World Animal Foundation actively works to create lasting change by fighting the forces that devastate the environment, endanger wildlife and harm companion animals and farm animals. WAF is an all volunteer organization. The organization has no paid officers and uses all donations towards animal and environmental programs: direct rescue, educational programs and animal sanctuaries. Utilizing volunteerism, WAF has kept operating costs to a bare minimum while maximizing our ability to help animals.
Fast Shipping! (Note: Shipping Delays May Occur Due To Pandemic)
Shipping time for World Animal Foundation Adopt An Animal Kits averages 2 to 4 business days - USA. Allow additional time for Adopt An Animal Kits orders outside the USA. Your Adopt An Animal Packet will arrive approximately 2 to 4 business days following shipping date. Shipping & Handling for Adopt An Animal Kits within the USA are by U.S.P.S. Priority Mail.
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World Animal Foundation Adopt An Animal Kits are provided by Tree Frog Trading.
The World Animal Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the planet and the animals that inhabit it. WAF works with other not-for-profit organizations dedicated to planet preservation and animal issues. WAF works through public education, research, investigations, animal rescue, legislation, special events, and direct action.
WAF is an all volunteer organization. The organization has no paid officers and uses all donations towards animal and environmental programs: direct rescue, educational programs and animal sanctuaries. Utilizing volunteerism, WAF has kept operating costs to a bare minimum while maximizing our ability to help animals.
​WAF has members throughout the world and on every continent.
Through our volunteer network, the World Animal Foundation attempts to make the world a more compassionate place for all animals - wild animals, companion animals, aquatic animals and farm animals. Through grass roots action and activism, WAF bridged the gap between animal and environmental issues.
The Foundation has directly rescued thousands of animals and supports wildlife sanctuaries throughout the US. In addition, WAF engages in Trap-Neuter-Return of feral cats, animal adoptions, low cost spay-neuter programs and numerous animal concerns campaigns.
Membership in the organization is free. Donations are always appreciated and needed to carryout our crucial mission of helping animals and the planet. Help make a difference!