Editing Opossum (section)

== Hunting and foodways ==
Until the early 20th century, the [[Virginia opossum]] was widely hunted and consumed in the [[United States]].<ref>Sutton, Keith (January 12, 2009)  [https://www.espn.com/outdoors/general/columns/story?columnist=sutton_keith&id=3827266 Possum days gone]. ESPN Outdoors.</ref><ref>[http://www.wildgamerecipes.org/ Wild Game Recipes online]. Retrieved 2009-12-29.</ref><ref>Powell, Bonnie Azab (2006-10-14) [http://www.ethicurean.com/2006/10/14/joy-of-cooking/ The joy of the ‘Joy of Cooking,’ circa 1962] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030204530/http://www.ethicurean.com/2006/10/14/joy-of-cooking/ |date=2006-10-30 }}. ethicurean.com.</ref><ref name="Apicius2012">{{cite book|author=Apicius|title=Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22bOitPwJhwC&pg=PA205|date=2012|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-15649-1|pages=205–}}</ref> Opossum farms have been operated in the United States in the past.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19780906&id=QkZQAAAAIBAJ&pg=6448,1038928&hl=en|author=McNulty, Timothy|title=Possums Are His Passion|work=The Evening Independent |date= September 6, 1978}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19780929&id=OeogAAAAIBAJ&pg=1067,6110703&hl=en|title='Possum Man' is Mayor|work=The Hour |date= September 29, 1978}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.cnhionline.com/crossvillechronicle/flashpromo/OldStuff/Opinion/moserkingpossums.html|title=King of the possums is dead|work=Crossville Chronicle|author=Moser, Mike|date=August 6, 2004}}</ref> Sweet potatoes were eaten together with the opossum in the American South.<ref name="Jones2007">{{cite book|author=Jones, Evan |title=American Food: The Gastronomic Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5gs9PgAACAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Overlook Press|isbn=978-1-58567-904-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/3443/possum_recipes.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991111043927/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/3443/possum_recipes.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 November 1999|title=Possum Recipes|date=11 November 1999}}</ref> In 1909, a [[Frank Park#Political activity and election|"Possum and 'Taters" banquet]] was held in [[Atlanta]] to honor President-elect [[William Howard Taft]].<ref name="Clash">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8584798/possum-dinner-in-coweta/|title=Over 'Possums Comes A Clash|publisher=[[Atlanta Constitution]]|date=February 4, 1909|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Worth">{{cite book|title=History of Worth County, Georgia: For the First Eighty Years, 18-54-1934|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEATAAAAYAAJ|year=1934|publisher=J.W. Burke Company|pages=83–84}}</ref>   South Carolina cuisine includes opossum,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~mcm/possum.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991109224048/http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~mcm/possum.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 November 1999|title=Cooking a Possum|date=9 November 1999}}</ref> and President [[Jimmy Carter]] hunted opossums<ref name="Carter1995">{{cite book|author=Carter, Jimmy |title=Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-WomB9aOgAC&pg=PA39|year=1995|publisher=Times Books|isbn=978-0-8129-2434-3|pages=39–}}</ref><ref name="Raum2011">{{cite book|author=Raum, Elizabeth |title=Gift of Peace: The Jimmy Carter Story: The Jimmy Carter Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7doAYxChjq0C&pg=PT15|date=13 September 2011|publisher=Zonderkidz|isbn=978-0-310-72757-6|pages=15–}}</ref> in addition to other small game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gon.com/news/president-jimmy-carter-inducted-into-georgia-hunting-and-fishing-hall-of-fame|title=President Jimmy Carter Inducted into Georgia Hunting and Fishing Hall of Fame|date=7 April 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2001/02/11/carter-shares-times/|title=Carter Shares Times|date=February 11, 2001|author=Doolittle, Leslie |work=Orlando Sentinel }}</ref>

In [[Dominica]], [[Grenada]], [[Trinidad]], [[Saint Lucia]] and [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]], the [[common opossum]] or ''manicou'' is popular and can only be hunted during certain times of the year owing to overhunting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0179|title=Southern Caribbean: Islands of Martinique, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines {{!}} Ecoregions {{!}} WWF|website=World Wildlife Fund|access-date=2017-05-14}}</ref> The meat is traditionally prepared by smoking, then stewing. It is light and fine-grained, but the musk glands must be removed as part of preparation. The meat can be used in place of rabbit and chicken in recipes. Historically, hunters in the Caribbean would place a barrel with fresh or rotten fruit to attract opossums that would feed on the fruit or insects.

In northern/central Mexico, opossums are known as ''tlacuache'' or ''tlacuatzin''. Their tails are eaten as a [[Alternative medicine|folk remedy]] to improve fertility.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.medicinatradicionalmexicana.unam.mx/|language=es|title=Biblioteca Digital de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana|chapter=tlacuache|publisher=Biblioteca Digital de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana}}</ref> In the Yucatán peninsula they are known in the [[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec Mayan language]] as "och"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJCza7sWUaMC&pg=PA149|title=Telling and Being Told: Storytelling and Cultural Control in Contemporary Yucatec Maya Literatures|first=Paul M.|last=Worley|date=2013|publisher=University of Arizona Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780816530267}}</ref> and they are not considered part of the regular diet by Mayan people, but still considered edible in times of famine.

Opossum oil (possum grease) is high in [[essential fatty acid]]s and has been used as a chest rub and a carrier for [[arthritis]] remedies given as salves.<ref>{{cite journal|doi= 10.1590/S1981-81222008000300005|title= Animais medicinais: Conhecimento e uso entre as populações ribeirinhas do rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil|journal= Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas|volume= 3|issue= 3|pages= 343–357|year= 2008|last1= Silva|first1= Andréa Leme da|doi-access= free|hdl= 11449/27066|hdl-access= free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1590/1809-4392200332290|title=Produtos e subprodutos da medicina popular comercializados na cidade de Boa Vista, Roraima|journal=Acta Amazonica|volume=33|issue=2|pages=281–290|year=2003|last1=Pinto|first1=Angélica Auxiliadora da Costa|last2=Maduro|first2=Cice Batalha|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/1746-4269-8-37|pmid=23013927|pmc=3502351|title=Medicinal use of fauna by a traditional community in the Brazilian Amazonia|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine|volume=8|pages=37|year=2012|last1=Barros|first1=Flávio B.|last2=Varela|first2=Susana AM|last3=Pereira|first3=Henrique M.|last4=Vicente|first4=Luís |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Opossum pelts have long been part of the [[fur trade]].