The black-eared skink or southern opossum are two of the many names of a small animal of the marsupial order that is often found in the forests of South America. This nocturnal Amazonian resident is frequently found by the guests of our hotel, many of them say that he looks like … a cute eared rat))! The animal has a pouch like a kangaroo, large and long ears, a solid but bald tail, while moving very nimbly through the branches of trees.
According to scientific classification, southern opossums belong to the Didelphidae family of the mammal class. This family is considered one of the oldest on the continent, it appeared at the end of the Cretaceous period and since then these “guys” have hardly changed))! In our region, the chucha are called zorro or black-tailed foxes. In Colombia – runcho, faro or chucha, in Venezuela – runcho, rabipelado, in Costa Rica you can hear – hairy fox, in Panama – zarigueya, in Ecuador – raposa or chucha with black ears, and in Mexico – tlacuache.
By the way, the name “chucha”, so “smiling” precisely to Russian – and Spanish – speaking tourists), is found for the first time in the famous “Chronicles” of Pedro Cieza de León, one of the first chroniclers of the time of the Spanish conquest.
Southern opossums survive due to their abilities to quickly escape through trees, hide in burrows and, in case of danger, in an open place, when there is no shelter, pretend to be dead. The natural enemies of possums are ocelots and South American harpies, but they have excellent immunity to snake venom, which allows them to even hunt snakes.
Another reason why southern opossums have survived on the continent is their selectivity and frugality. In seasons when resources are limited or drought begins, they may decide not to mate, which allows them to stay strong. They have a polygynous mating system, which means that males clash over females. During the mating courtship, angry snorts and muffled whistles emitted by rival males can often be heard at night. The brood that the female brings can consist of 1 to 20 young, about 1 cm long.
Puppies are born underdeveloped, but despite this they already have claws on their front paws that allow them to quickly climb into their mother’s pouch. The feeding period usually lasts about 50 days, after which they switch to feeding on fruits and insects.
In Mexico, this mammal has been known since ancient times with the name “tlacuache” and according to the National University (UNAM), the name comes from the Nahuatl word “tlacuacin”, translated as small that eats fire. According to a legend, in ancient times, when people still did not have fire and had to eat raw food, the fire from a star fell to the earth. This fire was collected by a lonely woman, but as much as she was not asked to share it, she gave it to no one. Then people got together and started thinking about how to get the fire. Tlacuache came to this meeting and offered to look for fire in exchange for the promise that people would never hunt their fellow human beings again. Tlacauche went to a woman who was hiding her fire and asked her to warm up a little. When the woman turned around, she put her tail on the fire and then ran towards the people to bring them the burning fire on her tail. As promised, he brought fire to the people, but since then his tail has no hair, but the people have not fulfilled their promise and continue to hunt tlacuache. That’s the South American Prometheus, that little possum!
We especially talked about this wonderful inhabitant of the Amazon rainforest around the Ecolodge “Cordillera Escalera”, because it is the joy of togetherness and good knowledge of nature that we try to give to our guests with special zeal. Come and chucha presents some surprise for you too))!