cuica

cuica

The Cuíca-verdadero or Cuíca-de-cuatro-olhos (Philander opossum) is a marsupial of the didelphidae family, found in the tropical forests of Mexico to Argentina.

Characteristics

It measures about 30 cm of body length, long tail with hairs only at the base, dark gray back, pale yellow lower parts and spots of the same color above the eyes.

Territory and Procreation

They are thought to be night owls like the other South American opossums, but there has been a similar activity both night and day. Its territory can reach 300 m² although they move regularly only in a diameter of 30m² around the nest. They build nests or in the branches of the trees from 8 to 10 meters of the ground or in the ground in fallen or hollow trees and occasionally in burrows left by other animals. The nest is round having 30 cm in diameter. Females give birth to 2 to 7 pups.

feeding

It is omnivore, consuming a wide variety of small animals, including birds, crabs, frogs, insects, lizards and rodents. Half of your diet consists of fruits like banana and papaya.

Defensive reaction

There is some disagreement about the defensive reaction of the cuíca-true: some say that it runs on the ground when threatened while others declare that it escapes climbing the trees.