Baby opossums rescued
Kindness Matters Rescue participated in a special rescue March 31 with the help of Toni Oddo from Voices for the Voiceless Wildlife Rescue and Rehab in Bridgeville.
Suzette Stewart, a KMR staffer, was driving when she noticed something unusual by the side of the road. Pulling over, she found a deceased opossum. Fortunately, she knew that she needed to check the opossum's pouch for babies, and Stewart was able to rescue four of them.
At the time of rescue, the baby possums were about three inches long and very squirmy, which means good energy. They made little huffy noises, then began to quiet down as Stewart drove to meet Oddo for rescue. Later online, Stewart said she found out that the noises were distress and the quieting down was probably a good sign. She helped keep them warm by putting the car seat heater on high because warmth is so important to baby animals.
Many people in the local area don’t know just how beneficial possums are. They eat tons of ticks, safeguarding people and other animals from Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. They are also known to be immune to rabies due to their low normal body temperature.
Stewart said, “I called Susanne Hoshino with Kindness Matters Rescue in Berlin, Md., first, because I do volunteer work with her organization, whose motto is ‘Together we save them because every life matters.’”
Ultimately, she was led to Oddo, a Delaware wildlife rescuer in partnership with Vicki Bowman of Voices for the Voiceless Wildlife Rescue and Rehab, based in Bridgeville. Oddo is taking care of these baby possums now. Stewart said, “These four little lives matter very much to me because I had pet opossums we rescued when I was a child in Texas. They make sweet and adorable pets, but I knew these little guys would have better survival chance with a professional wildlife rescue organization. I snapped the attached pics quickly, because I did not want to uncover them and stress them too much more.”
For more information, go to www.kindnessmattersrescue.org.
