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| Virginia opossum, California, Fish and Wildlife, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitator, Los Angeles |
May 1, 2007
"Through genetic studes scientist (sic) have recently discovered that the red fox population in the Sacramaento Valley is native and closely related ot the endangered Sierra Nevada Red Fox." You may rehab these. "For all other areas of the state the red fox genotype is still considered non-native. If you receive a non-native red fox, the animal cannot be released backinto the wild and must either be placed at an appropriate facility or humanely euthanized."
"Opossums and eastern gray and red fox (sic) squirrels, although not native to California, may be rehabilitated and released pursuant to the conditions listed in this memorandum; however, these animals adversely compete with native California wildlife to their detriment and the department recommends euthanasia rather than release."
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| Nicole Carion, Fish and Wildlife, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California, opossum, squirrel, native, non-native, euthanize |
Nicole Carion is incorrect. The squirrels and opossums do not compete with native animals. I wrote an article about our native gray squirrel vs eastern gray and eastern fox squirrel. The native gray is threatened because it only lives in mature trees which are being destroyed by the bark beetle. Eastern gray and fox squirrels are more adaptable living in many different environments. They also only have one litter per year whereas fox squirrels have two.
Years ago Fish and Game stated these animals are new native as they've been here for many, many years. The opossum has slowly been spreading to the entire US for many, many years. Some believe the opossums that are here were brought here for food, fur and didn't make their way on their own. One reason for this notion was that opossums can't take cold weather and would not be able to cross the rockies. Opossums can survive cold water though their ears and tails might not survive after the first winter. In this pdf book they have a few stories about how opossums came to California.
"Perhaps the most interesting story is how the opossum came to California and the Pacific Coast, expanding its range as far north as southern British Columbia. Before human interven- tion, the hostile environments associated with the mountain ranges and surrounding deserts kept the opossum from spreading to the West Coast. However, in 1890 the Virginia opossum was introduced into southern California near Los Angeles. This population became well established and expanded into adjacent Ventura County by 19. Immigrants, originally from Tennessee, imported an additional group of live opossums from that state into central Califor- nia (near San Jose) in 1910. The live opossums were sent as food items as individuals from this region of the United States considered opossums a delicacy at the time. Several escaped their hutches over time and provided one of the initial populations of opossums into this region of California. Another individual introduced an additional documented group of opossums from South Carolina to a farm near Visalia, California, in an attempt to raise opossums as fur-bearers. Opossum fur at that time was being used as an inexpensive fur trim for some garments and hats. After several years of failure, the fur farmer abandoned this enterprise and many of the animals were simply released into the surrounding countryside. Since this initial introduc- tion, the opossum has prospered along the coast and expanded its range over a considerable area of California, in particular those regions associated with agriculture."
More recent research and has shown that the opossum actually existed during the Eocene epoch (56 to 34 million years ago) in Simi, Fillmore, Santa Paula in Ventura County. They discovered opossum fossils in the Tapo Ranch that date to this era (Fossil Vertebrates of Southern California, pg 20, Theodore Downs, 1968, UCLA). Perhaps the climate was not as cold at this time or the rockies weren't as tall as they are today. The Rocky Mountains were formed 80 to 55 million years ago.
Other writers state that there have been many different sub-species of opossums in the Americas. The Virginia opossum is but one which made it to the lower deserts of California. The Virginia opossum was better able to survive colder climates but cannot withstand temperatures -7 C. It also cannot withstand very arid areas though it can take tropical heat.
Obviously the opossum is not native to only "Virginia." It is merely called the "Virginia Opossum" as that is when it was first named in the Americas. The opossum existed many, many years before Virginia, the US or even the Americas existed and were populated.
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.
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