The Alaska Department of Fish and Game caught another baby opossum in Homer late last week, bringing the total to five since the capture of their mom, Grubby, in late May. But Jason Herreman, a wildlife biologist at Fish and Game, said the search isn’t over. Opossum litters are usually eight or nine joeys — and can be as many as 13.
“It’s possible there’s more out there, it could be that we’re getting towards the end of them,” Herreman said. “But if you go off the average litter size, that would suggest we still got four or five more to catch out there.”
Opossums aren’t native to Alaska — Grubby arrived in a shipping container from Washington state. Biologists, like Herreman, are concerned that if Grubby’s kids aren’t all captured they’ll start breeding and establish a population here. Herreman said it’s likely they could survive the winter. Opossums have spread as far north as Canada.
“You look at where their home ranges have expanded to in the Lower 48, and the environmental conditions in the winter aren’t that much different than what you can find in downtown Homer,” he said.
Herreman isn’t an opossum expert – before this March, there were no opossums in Homer. But these past few weeks, he’s been reading up. He said he always enjoys learning about new animals, but he just wishes he’d had more time to prepare for this.
Since their litters are so big, Herreman said even a handful of rogue opossums have the potential to explode into an invasive population, and they could pose a threat to local wildlife. Opossums could spread diseases, as well as eat local insects, rodents and birds — potentially disrupting the ecosystem.
Herreman said there’s no way to know if the saga of Grubby and her family is over.
“No matter what, unless we catch 13 of ’em, I wouldn’t ever really be comfortable to say we got them all,” he said.
Herreman said Fish and Game still has traps out around Homer. He encouraged people to report any opossum sightings to the agency at 907-235-8191, and to the Homer Police Department after business hours at 907-235-3150.
Homer police have said that placements would be found for all of Grubby’s offspring. So far, Grubby and two of her babies have been taken to the Alaska Zoo, and two more will be heading there in the next few days. Fish and Game said one baby opossum did not survive.
Only Grubby is taking up permanent residency at the zoo in Anchorage. According to Fish and Game, one of the babies will move to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and two more have confirmed placements at zoos in the Lower 48. It’s still unclear where the fourth will go.
Dev Hardikar was Alaska Public Media's 2023 summer news intern. Reach him at dhardikar@alaskapublic.org.
