What should I do? Possum

[vineyridge]

I have my washing machine in a separate building. I also kept rat poison in closed traps out there.

A week or so ago, I left the front door open for a few days. I went out there last Wednesday or so and there was a dead mother possum, and I thought I saw a couple of three inch long babies, who scuttled away. But there was one baby in the laundry sink in a glass jar. I got it out of the jar and put it on the floor, then left the door open and put a very old banana outside. The next morning, the banana was gone, but there was a possum baby in the laundry sink. I picked it up and put it outside and shut the door. This morning there was a possum baby in the laundry sink again. So I put it outside again. I haven’t checked to see if there is a possum baby in the sink this evening.

The baby critters are just adorable, and I’m feeling guilty that I have simply turned them out to die. (I did put a water bowl outside, but the dogs can use that just as well as a possum baby.)

If there is a possum baby in the laundry sink again, should I try and raise it? I was honestly hoping that my vermin dogs would take care of the problem for me, but so far they don’t seem interested. This is a serious ethical problem for me because I am guilt ridden at allowing any animal to starve to death. The babies are adorable now, but they will grow up to be a possum, and adult possums are far from adorable.

[jnel]

I don’t know much about possums but maybe you could just be a little helpful with food and water and they will move on when older? We have one or two that stroll through our yard at night and they never bothered us. The raccoons however have been much busier with our trash cans.

[Christa_P]

Are there any wildlife rehabilitators in your area that might take them?

[S1969]

We had a baby possum turn up once and we had it taken by an animal wildlife rehab person. We did have to pay them to come get it.

Not sure what their survival rate is at that age.

[shiloh]

I think baby possums are adorable. But without mama to show them the ropes their survival rate is probably rather low. Can you find a wildlife rehabber in your area? Call local vet and they might be able to refer you to someone.

I found a baby possum once and turned over to rehabber and they got him fattened up and were able to successfully release him.

Interesting fact about possums: they do not stay in one area for long, they just wander and wander. So each year when you see possums, it’s new possums. Life expectancy is also about 3 - 5 years due to high incidence of death by car.

[Rallycairn]

I love opossums. Find a wildlife rehabber if you can, as suggested. BTW lifespan in the wild is actually only 1-2 years!

http://opossumsocietyus.org/general-opossum-information/

Finding a wildlife rehabber:

http://opossumsocietyus.org/faq-opossum/#How%20do%20I%20locate%20a%20wildlife%20rehabilitator?

Good luck!

[vineyridge]

No possum babies in the laundry sink for the past two days; definite dead animal smell in the wash house air. The wash house is also a place where I store building stuff, so bodies are nearly inaccessible without major moving.

If this happens again, I’ll know how to handle orphaned babies much better. I definitely failed this time.

[shiloh]

No, you did not fail. You did the best you could with what you knew. They were probably doomed from the start being so young. And blech - I hope that smell goes away soon.

[Big_Tag]

Poor little guys
However, if mama died, might be that babies also contracted whatever killed her.

[BAC]

Poor babies, I love opossums too but they require lots of care at that age. I would suggest you locate a wildlife rehabber now so in case this happens again, as they need to be fed and cared for around the clock.

I found six baby opossums whose mother had been hit by a car and after many phone calls and driving around for a couple of hours trying to find the appropriate facility we all ended up at Volunteers for Wildlife, an organization that cares for them, and eventually releases them. I offered to care for them but was told they need substantial care and round the clock feedings at frequent intervals at such a young age (they were 2" including the tail). I was only allowed one weekly email to check on their condition, as it was explained to me they are too busy caring for the animals to spend much time conversing, after several months, they were put into an outdoor situation (large enough to be out in the woods but which was enclosed on the sides and top so no predators could get in and observed to make sure they were capable of surviving on their own, and then received an email about their release date with pictures of them before they were released.

I am incredibly lucky that we have such an organization as I never knew they existed until this happened a few years ago, now I am a regular contributor. Check out their website at http://www.volunteersforwildlife.org/ to see the wonderful work they do.