A Flood of Opossums at WildCare

Our poor Opossum Foster Care Team! With 33 opossums currently in care, these dedicated volunteers aren’t getting a lot of sleep, and our opossum resources are stretched to the limit.

Read these babies’ story in photos (click each photo to read the full caption) and then click here or scroll down to learn how you can help opossums this spring by rescuing orphaned babies, making an opossum pouch, sending us much-needed supplies and more!

 

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How can YOU help opossums this spring?

Watch for hit-by-car moms and rescue the babies!
Like the babies in the story above, many of our young opossums come to the Wildlife Hospital after their moms have been hit by cars. It is so common that a mother opossum will be hit and killed by a car, but her babies will survive in the protective embrace of her marsupium (her pouch). In fact, this is so common that we actually ask people to stop (if it’s safe for you to do so) when you see an opossum hit on the side of the road, and check to see if she is a female with a pouch full of babies! If you find live babies, always check around the surrounding area to make sure there aren’t little ones that have been thrown clear of the mother’s body by the impact, and then bring the mother opossum with the babies still in her pouch to WildCare or your nearest wildlife hospital. Trying to remove the babies yourself can be detrimental, so it’s always best to bring the mother and babies together.

Donate toward our orphaned opossums’ care or send a heating pad (note that heating pads must NOT have an auto-shutoff function!) or SnuggleSafe
Our Opossum Foster Care Team is desperately in need of supplies. A donation toward our babies’ care is the most useful as it allows us to purchase all the supplies our growing opossums need.

Sew a fleecy Opossum Pouch and send it to WildCare!
Baby opossums are accustomed to traveling in the marsupium (pouch) of their mother, so keeping them in a pouch-like environment makes them more comfortable and improves the success of their care. Click for guidelines to make the perfect Opossum Pouch for our orphaned babies!