I Found a Baby Opposum. Here’s What To Do!

It is the peak of springtime wildlife babies being born.   According to RedCreek Wildlife Center, a rehab rescue for wildlife in Pennsylvania,  they took in over 100 wildlife babies two weekends ago!  That’s a lot of wildlife!

I’m accustomed to seeing baby rabbits, birds, kittens, squirrels, and even baby turkeys in my back yard but we’ve never seen baby opossums wandering in our yard with their actions indicating they didn’t know they were ready to walk directly into our pond.   They had to be saved.

What started with my ever-so-curious dog, Brody, snooping around and crawling deep into one of your hedges, ended up with my husband finding two baby opossums wandering aimlessly and in danger of harming themselves.

After searching for the mother and other babies for many hours,  we were unsuccessful to find more of them.

Did you know once a baby opossum is no longer attached to its mother,  the mom will never return for them?  It doesn’t matter if the babies eyes aren’t opened.   The mother opossum wants nothing to do with a baby who is not latched to her or in her pouch.   Opossums don’t leave their mothers voluntarily until they weigh at least 1/2 lb.   They also don’t leave until they are at least seven inches long from head to rump not including the tail.   These opossum didn’t measure that long.

Did you also know the mother typically gives birth to 13+ babies?   That’s why it was surprising not to find other babies on or around our property or in our neighborhood.   Our neighbor who lives down the street from us said he had opossum babies in his yard last year but none this year.

My husband saw two adult opossums the week prior to this outside of our yard in our grassy alley which is never used for traffic.    Could one of them have been the mother?  We’ll never know because we haven’t seen either one since that time.    It’s possible the mother was killed and the babies were on their own.  Purely conjecture on my part.

So what do you exactly do once you’ve found opossum babies?   Remember they are wildlife and not puppies or kittens.     You need to call a wildlife rehabilitator ASAP!    No matter how old they are,  they can give you information pertinent to your situation.

That’s what we did.    Prior to the call, we wrapped the two babies in a sweatshirt which is vital to keeping their bodies warm.     The rehab center can tell you if the babies are old enough to survive on their own.

It is best to handle baby wildlife as little as possible.   You don’t want to stress them out anymore than they already are.   They can easily die from too much handling by an inexperienced person.    Prepare a container.     A wildlife rehab center wants you to keep wildlife safe and in most cases, kept in in its natural habitat, if possible.   However,  when that isn’t the case, a wildlife rescue is the answer.

Off to Red Creek Wildlife Rescue we went.    Contacting a wildlife rehab center is the most essential move you can make for them.   We felt it was in these two adorable babies’ best interests for survival to be taken to the wildlife rehabilitator.     The staff has the credentials, the knowledge, and experience to help them survive and thrive.   By the way, don’t use your GPS for Red Creek, it will take you to a different location.  Go to their website for directions.  🙂

Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

Our baby opossums snuggled and slept in the container the entire time for the one hour trip.   Opossums can be escape artists but these two were not of that mindset.

Wildlife rehab centers know what and when to feed baby wildlife.   I feel taking them gives them the best chance at life.    It’s illegal to keep baby opossums unless you’re a certified wildlife rehabilitator.

Did you know opossums may appear “dead?”   Before disposing of the “dead” animal you’ll want to make sure the animal isn’t “playing possum/dead.”    I’ve seen this phenomenon up close.   If they feel threatened, the opossum will fall over and visibly look dead.    What they’re doing is an involuntary reaction to a perceived danger to them.    This “playing dead” can last anywhere from 40 minutes to 4 hours as they go into a comatose state.    The animal will appear dead with its stiff body,  glazed over eyes and lying on its side.    They may drool and a green fluid coming out of their rectum certainly can convince someone the animal has died.

I watched an opossum fall over “dead” on its side and was stiff as can be.   It was 30 minutes later when I watched it get up and walk away.    He felt the threat was gone.     This defense mechanism helps the opossum to survive a predator’s attack.

You can tell the opossum is beginning to recover from “playing dead” when its ears move so very slightly.

‘Tis the season for baby wildlife.    The best thing you can do is call the wildlife specialists in your area.

Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer and is an unabashed  animal advocate .   Her love for animals is what drives her to promote awareness of the many issues facing animals.   She hosts the show,  ” A Close-Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.”    If you’d like Tina to talk to your group or have a story, please email her at tevangelistaepp@yahoo.com.   Like https://www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookAtAnimalWelfareIssues and check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com for all the tv shows, articles,  and podcasts you may have missed!