In March 2018, ten of us went on a week-long birding trip to the Canopy Tower in Panama. We focused on birds but at dinnertime this mammal stole the show.

Every evening just after sunset a Central American (or Derby’s) woolly opossum (Caluromys derbianus) shuffled quickly past us as we sat chatting about the day’s events. If you didn’t watch carefully you missed it.

One evening I tried to follow the opossum to take his photo but failed. He seemed awkward but he was surprisingly fast.

This photo, taken at the Canopy Tower by Charles J. Sharp, reminded me of how easy it was to see this wide-eyed nocturnal animal. My husband was impressed that the opossum came so close, “That’s my kind of nature watch!”

See Derby’s woolly opossum in two videos below: At night in Panama’s San Francisco Reserve (look at those ears!) …

… and at Cornell Lab’s Panama fruitcam.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original. videos from YouTube)