The Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s wildlife hospital is starting April off with a busy baby season. Within the past two weeks, the von Arx Wildlife Hospital has admitted 53 young Virginia Opossums and currently treating 40. Vehicle strikes, dog attacks and found as orphans were some of the main reasons these patients were admitted to our wildlife hospital.
Virginia opossums are the only marsupials in North America. Other marsupials throughout the world include kangaroos, koalas, sugar gliders and many more.
“Marsupial, any of more than 250 species belonging to the infraclass Metatheria (sometimes called Marsupialia), a mammalian group characterized by premature birth and continued development of the newborn while attached to the nipples on the mother’s lower belly. The pouch—or marsupium, from which the group takes its name—is a flap of skin covering the nipples.” (Source: https://www.britannica.com/animal/marsupial)
Opossum mothers will give birth to very young undeveloped opossums that will then crawl into her pouch to continue development. This pouch, also known as marsupium, will help the joeys grow by providing warmth, shelter and food.
This past week a woman was out walking her dog and came across a dead opossum mother laying on the side of the road. When she went to move the body, she saw the stomach moving. She moved the opossum’s legs and found 5 joeys inside her pouch. Luckily for the joeys, they were unharmed by the car strike. See Lauren’s rescue story by heading to our Facebook Page.
The rescuer immediately went home and grabbed gloves, a towel and a box. She was able to contain the joeys and bring them straight to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital.
If you find an opossum mother who has passed with joeys in her pouch, please try to bring in the carcass with the babies still in the pouch to the wildlife hospital. This helps us to decide if the mother had any rodenticide poisoning along with it being less stressful for the joeys upon arrival. However, we do know that this cannot always be the case depending on the situation and the state in which the mother is in when you find her. Regardless, rescue the babies in the best way that you can.
Once admitted, the wildlife hospital staff immediately put the joeys in an incubator so that they could warm up and rest. It is very traumatic and scary for baby animals to be separated from their mother or even their nest so at the von Arx Wildlife Hospital we make sure to give the patients time to rest and get comfortable before moving forward. A full exam was performed after the joeys warmed up and become more comfortable. The joeys showed no signs of injuries. Overall, the joeys seemed to be fairly healthy.
To be safe, staff started pain medications because the mother was hit by a car and the babies could have received trauma that wasn’t visible. The staff also started supportive care along with a specialty milk so that the joeys could continue to receive some nutrition. Currently, the joeys are growing daily and doing well each day.
We want to thank Lauren for her brave and passionate rescue mission and for bringing the babies directly to us at the wildlife hospital. If you see any deceased animal on the side of the road, it is best to move them off the road. There are many species of wildlife that eat roadkill, so by moving it off the road you are helping prevent another animal from being hit. Also, if you see a dead opossum, please check the pouch for any babies.
Another rescuer had a similar story. A woman found a dead opossum mother laying in the road, but the babies were older so they were crawling around on mom. She was able to contain all five joeys and bring them to the wildlife hospital.
When the babies arrived, the staff followed the same treatment protocol – time to warm up, performed a full exam and provided supportive care. However, 6 days later, the rescuer found another joey. This joey was not in as good of shape as his siblings. He had been without his mom for 6 days and was dehydrated and thin. Staff immediately warmed him up and gave fluids. Once the joey was hydrated, staff started slowing providing nutrition by offering specialized opossum formula. This patient is very critical and is still slowly recovering due to how malnourished he was from being alone and without his mom for 6 days. Often times, joeys are found as orphans.
As they grow up in mom’s pouch, they do become bigger and sometimes will hang on to mom’s fur. However, while mom is moving around to look for food there is always the chance that a joey could fall off. Unfortunately, mom will not realize that and keep moving. In this case, the baby opossum that was found days later probably realized his mother had passed and fight or flight kicked in. Opossums are very instinctual so he probably left his mom and went looking for food. However, because he was so young, it is not what he needed. If you ever find young opossums alone, please bring them to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital. If you are ever unsure, you can always call and our wildlife staff can age them as well and let you know.
The von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is open 365 days a year from 8am to 6pm. Please call 239-262-2273 for wildlife assistance. The Conservancy is located at 1495 Smith Preserve Way in Naples, FL.