The Opossum Problem: Implications for Human-Wildlife Competition over Plant Foods

Abstract

The Opossum Problem refers to the infrequent presence of opossum remains, relative to raccoon and squirrel remains, in sites in the eastern United States. The presence or absence of opossum remains is seen to be part of a larger pattern in prey selection in which hunting helped to reduce interspecies competition over plant foods. Spatial and temporal distributions of sites with opossum remains suggest that opossum was not selected as prey prior to ca A.D. 1000 because it did not participate to any significant degree in a plant food network used by people. After ca A.D. 1000 opossum were selected as prey because their activities as a persimmon predator rendered them a competitive threat. Human hunting patterns and prey choice may be better understood by considering how they affect human access to plant food sources.