Species:

Virginia Opossum

Time in Care:

57 Days

Status:

Released

On February 22nd a Virginia Opossum was brought into the center from Los Angeles County. The opossum was caught by a dog and entered our hospital with multiple laceration wounds in its back leg and suspected corresponding broken bones. Before proceeding further with her treatment, the SBWCN team set her up with pain management and stabilizing bandages which gave the Opossum time to settle and the mammal team time to work on a treatment plan for her many injuries. Her treatment started the next day with an in-depth diagnosis and exam of the patient, where it was discovered that this Opossum was also a mama with four joeys in her pouch. Suddenly one patient had become five! Luckily all four babies were uninjured so treating the mother was the main course of action. 

The mother underwent a series of closely monitored checks and bandaging. She was X-rayed and later passed through the CT machine to check for fractures in her hind legs. An unexpected but educational challenge to her treatment was her babies who had to remain in her pouch until they were fully developed. These babies showed up in our imaging and made identifying fractures and wounds difficult. Additionally, when the mother needed to be sedated for supportive stitching and wound care, our team had to consider the impact this would have on the babies. Later in her hospital stay, when the babies emerged from the mothers pouch, they also needed to be closely monitored and taken care of so the mother could heal while balancing healthy development with and without the mother.

After 57 days in care the mother and babies were healthy, thriving, and feisty once more, ready to be released back into the wild. 

Virginia Opossum Facts: 

• Opossums are the only marsupial that lives in the US. 
• They are surprisingly short lived with opossums living 1.5 to 2 years in the wild. 
• Virginia opossums are not originally native to California. Instead, they were introduced to California in the early 20th century for farming and meat. 
• William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States was particularly well known to have enjoyed eating opossum. 
• The California Department of Fish and Wildlife does not consider opossums invasive, and they’re generally left alone unless causing specific issues, as they do not outcompete native species and instead fullfil a scavenger role in the ecosystem.
• When opossum joeys are born they are roughly the size of a bumblebee and make their way to their mothers pouch where they latch on to a teat and stay until they are ready to emerge in the world.