When a person hears the word “rat,” the association that occurs in the imagination does not seem pleasant. Of course, this is not about all people, but the overwhelming majority, because there are those who adore these creatures of nature. So, with the word “rat,” the brain draws an unpleasant small animal with a sharp face, a wet nose that looks like a button, and a long tail, on which there is absolutely no hair. And if you need to imagine a possum, then most likely, for many people, the picture of animals from the cartoon "Ice Age" will pop up in memory. These characters are not so nasty, unlike the aforementioned. Now let's try to imagine a combination of these creatures, and even with an incredible ability to live in an aquatic environment. Who will succeed? The answer is simple - a water possum, which will be discussed below.
Who is this floating animal?
Before introducing today's hero, it must be said that he is rarely seen. In our latitudes, such an possum does not live at all, but prefers Southern and some parts of Central America, Mexico and Argentina. From this it becomes clear that the animal is very thermophilic. The animals were given the nickname "Japs" due to the fact that once they inhabited the banks of the Oyapok River, in French Guiana. Water possum is a rat, but not a simple one, but a marsupial, and even a waterfowl. By the way, this is the only representative of the mammalian order, which has the ability to live in water.
Description of the waterfowl possum
The floating marsupial rat is not quite small: the body length can reach 40 cm, and an unusual animal can weigh up to 3 kg. The tail is the same as that of an ordinary rat - bald. In length, it is correlated with the body of a mammal, in some cases it exceeds its size by several cm. The coat color of the water possum is gray with large black spots or vice versa. By the way, in waterfowl, the wool has a kind of coating that can repel water, and our hero is no exception.
What does water possum eat?
Marsupial aquatic animals prefer to feast on snails, small crustaceans and fish, which are professionally caught with their webbed feet. However, having caught the prey, the mammal gets out of the water so as not to rush to taste the catch. Animals prefer to hunt in the dark, in pitch darkness.
Since water possums spend most of their time in water, they are, of course, great swimmers: mammals use their hind legs as flippers, and their tail as a rudder. It is worth saying that the bag is endowed with all water floating rats, called possums, without exception, both females and males. However, the bag is airtight in females, but not in males. They use it to hide a scrotum in it while in the water. Sometimes for the same purpose the bag is also used on land, for example, when the animal quickly runs through tall grass. While on land, water possums use some types of algae and the sweet fruits of fruit trees as food. They also build burrows above water, often from leaves that they carry with their tail. A solitary place for dwelling is chosen: under snags or in the roots of trees.