Properly called Virginia Opossums, possums were the only type of marsupial mammal living in North America when the European settlers arrived. At that time they ranged through the eastern and southern parts of what is now the US, and south into Central America. Introduced into California about one hundred years ago, they are now common here. I captured this photo one rainy night near Fort Bragg, CA, using a motion detector to trigger my camera and flashes when the possum reached a certain position on an animal trail.
