Opossum Rescued from the Bay Bridge
For all of us who love opossums, the sight of one ambling along the side of a busy highway strikes terror in our hearts. Too many opossums are hit and killed by cars, and the side of a bridge highway is an incredibly dangerous place for any animal to be.
Fortunately, this opossum was spotted heading onto the upper deck of San Francisco's Bay Bridge by a caring person who called the California Highway Patrol (CHP) dispatch. CHP San Francisco Motor Officer Pack responded, and initiated what their post on Facebook refers to as "an extremely slow speed pursuit... as the opossum failed to yield to Officer Pack's directions." You can read the wonderfully-worded post here.
As the pursuit ensued, another caring person got involved. Julie, the owner of the East Bay nonprofit animal rescue, Jelly's Place knew how to handle animals and offered her expertise to help capture and contain the opossum. With Julie's help, the post continues, "Our furry opossum friend was safely detained and removed from a dangerous location without further incident."
But this single opossum wasn't the only marsupial rescued that day! This opossum is a female, and she has a pouch full of babies!
Virginia Opossums are North America's only marsupial mammal, and, like their Australian kin, they carry their young in a marsupium, or pouch. The baby opossums leave the birth canal at an incredibly young and undeveloped stage, make their way to the marsupium, and latch onto a nipple for the rest of their development. You can see the tiny, approximately 1-month old baby opossums inside the pouch in this photo.
Intake notes at WildCare's Wildlife Hospital indicate that the opossum is in overall good health, but she has multiple painful wounds on her feet and also one on her tail. Also, the hair on her neck and back was singed.
The injuries on the opossum's feet and tail are consistent with both burns and with road rash, but the opossum's overall presentation led Medical Staff to speculate that she had actually been hiding inside the engine compartment of a vehicle, and fell out when it got too hot, or when the vehicle hit a large bump! This happens surprisingly often... an animal will climb into a vehicle's engine compartment because it's warm, not realizing that the vehicle will move again.
In the video below, taken the day after the opossum arrived at WildCare's Wildlife Hospital, you can see Medical Staff gently easing open the strong muscles of the marsupium to count the jellybean-sized babies. A mother opossum has 13 nipples, and we count at least 10 tiny, pink babies.
Medical staff then cleans the wounds on the mother opossum's feet and tail, and covers them with a soothing antimicrobial cream that is used specifically for treating burns. Medication for pain is the last step, and then the opossum returns to her enclosure.