Today’s photo was also taken last year on August 11, 2022. Before I discovered the Raccoon I wrote about yesterday (Getting Up Close with a Raccoon), I drove up on this Opossum walking alongside the auto tour road at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. I was also able to photograph it from inside the cab of my pickup.
As the Opossum walked near the roadside, I was able to get this profile shot showing its pointy snout and beady black eyes. Unlike the raccoon closeup from yesterday, I was fortunate to capture the opossum’s entire body in this shot.
Opossums have 50 sharp teeth which help them eat a wide variety of foods including insects, frogs, plants, fruits, and carrion. An interesting fact about Opossums is that they have opposable thumbs on their hind feet. This helps them climb and hang from trees. They are North America’s only marsupial which means they carry their young in a pouch until they are more developed.
As you can see in both these blog posts, I had a great start to my morning at this refuge, spotting and photographing two iconic wildlife species up close. It’s mornings like these that remind me why I love nature photography so much. Being able to capture unique portraits of animals in their natural environments is an amazing experience.
Steve Creek, Wildlife Photographer
Equipment Used:
- Camera: Canon EOS R7
- Lens: Canon RF 100-500 mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
Technical Details:
- Location: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge (Oklahoma)
- Date and Time Taken: August 11, 2022 (08:12 A. M.)
- Program: Manual
- Aperture: f7.1
- Shutter speed: 1/125
- ISO: 2500 (Auto)
- Exp. Comp.: +0.3
- Focal Length: 324 mm