Tonight my husband and I went to my boss' house to celebrate the successful defense of one of his PhD students. One the way home (literally before even leaving the neighborhood), I saw a freshly-hit, large opossum dead in the road. I got my husband to back the car up and I grabbed a small hand towel out of the car.
The dead opossum was a female and inside her pouch were 4 very young pups. They were attached to the teat (literally still attached) and it took a good it of gentle work to get them free. They were very cold, as the mother had been dead long enough to start stiffening. I balled them in the blanket and let them cling to my hand the whole ride home in an attempt to warm them. Once home, I put their towel in a deep bin and slipped in nitrile gloves filled with warm water under the blanket on each side of them. They're now warm and toasty and crying a lot less.
Don't worry- I was a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for years so I'm well aware of the proper steps for caring for these little ones. I don't have the SQ fluids or kitten formula like I used to, but I will hopefully be able to keep them stable until Piedmont Wildlife Center opens at 9. I'll just be switching out "bottles" and blankets throughout the night... so much for catching up on my sleep! I give them a 50/50 shot at this point. They've definitely improved from when I picked them up, but it's always very tricky when they're this young.
One of the little critters after getting warmed up:
I haven't come across an orphaned mammal in so long since my license expired. It motivates me to get re-trained, even though the protocols and requirements for a small mammal license have gotten a lot tougher (ie, take a lot longer and are much more annoying) than when I first started wildlife rehabilitation.
The dead opossum was a female and inside her pouch were 4 very young pups. They were attached to the teat (literally still attached) and it took a good it of gentle work to get them free. They were very cold, as the mother had been dead long enough to start stiffening. I balled them in the blanket and let them cling to my hand the whole ride home in an attempt to warm them. Once home, I put their towel in a deep bin and slipped in nitrile gloves filled with warm water under the blanket on each side of them. They're now warm and toasty and crying a lot less.
Don't worry- I was a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for years so I'm well aware of the proper steps for caring for these little ones. I don't have the SQ fluids or kitten formula like I used to, but I will hopefully be able to keep them stable until Piedmont Wildlife Center opens at 9. I'll just be switching out "bottles" and blankets throughout the night... so much for catching up on my sleep! I give them a 50/50 shot at this point. They've definitely improved from when I picked them up, but it's always very tricky when they're this young.
One of the little critters after getting warmed up:
I haven't come across an orphaned mammal in so long since my license expired. It motivates me to get re-trained, even though the protocols and requirements for a small mammal license have gotten a lot tougher (ie, take a lot longer and are much more annoying) than when I first started wildlife rehabilitation.
