Why does an opossum hang by its tail?

Opossum

An opossum is a furry animal that looks something like an overgrown rat.  It has a long tail without much hair on it.  The opossum spends a lot of time in trees, hunting and eating.  It has a special fondness for fruit, and likes to invade orchards at night.

The opossum often eats upside down.  To do this, it wraps its long tail around a branch, hangs head-down and grasps its food with all four feet.

After eating, the opossum sits on its hind legs and washes itself like a cat.  An opossum also uses its skillful tail as an extra hand for support while climbing. – Dick Rogers

What was the woolly mammoth?

The woolly mammoth was a kind of hairy elephant that lived long, long ago.

This huge, lumbering beast stood about 10 feet tall and had long, spiral tusks that often grew to be 13 feet long.

Woolly Mammoth

The woolly mammoth was covered with long, shaggy hair that almost reached the ground.  Its coat kept it warm in the cold climate where it lived.

There are none of these great east living today.  They died out many thousands of years ago.  Yet we know a good deal about them, since their bones have been found.

In places like Siberia, the whole bodies of mammoths have been found perfectly preserved in ice.

Another kind of old-fashioned elephant was the mastodon.  Mastodon were about the same size as the woolly mammoth but had straight tusks and less hair.  All mastodons have died out, too.

Today, you can see skeletons of woolly mammoths and mastodons in many museum. –  Dick Rogers