Another day in the life of a wild animal rehabber.
Today, I received a phone call from the police department at SMU. They had a mommy opossum, in the street, and she had been hit by a car. I asked what they had done and they told me that the police officer would not touch her, because of police regulations. Thankfully, they had been really great guys and not just killed her. Instead they had called my volunteer group, the DFW Wildlife Coalition, which is made up of certified and licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Thankfully we have earned and gained a wonderful reputation with the police departments around the city. Almost all the police departments in the city, now call us instead of killing the wild animals like they had previously done in the past as normal procedure. So, because of their University police rules, she was still in the street. I was not sure what to expect as I drove there quickly.
When I arrived, there were two police cars with their lights flashing. A crowd of students standing around looking at this poor mommy opossum that was frightened, badly wounded and barely standing in the street. Many were concerned, but simply did not know what to do about handling a badly wounded mommy opossum. I was really surprised she was still standing. Her face was all bloody and her eye was hanging outside of her face. Her little babies were all clinging to her back. I pulled my car over quickly and got out of my car. I didn’t have any rescue equipment with me today. I had been fortunately been at SMU that day, so I had been nearby.
I had been working and I was in my nice clothes and high heels; which was not the best thing to wear when trying to rescue a wild animal. I opened my car trunk and luckily I had a big towel. I got it out and walked over to the mommy opossum. The officer looked really shocked and said, aren’t you afraid she will bite you? I replied that they know I am there to help them. Animals can read your energy. Opossums are actually very docile and fragile creatures. I reached down and gently scooped her up in my towel as carefully and gently as I possibly could and started to walk back to my car. I did not have anything to put her in; so I was just going to put her down on the floor of my car on the soft towel for the car ride to my home. It was [6:45] at night and there weren’t any vets open at this hour that I knew would look at a wild animal. I would have to wait until morning.
Officer Norris walked over to help and opened the car door and then moved some things for me out of the floor for me. I was trying to hurry, because she was so tremendously hurt, I needed to get her to a place where I could take care of her and get her calm and quiet.I knew she was in shock. I told him quickly a few of my opossum facts, like they don’t carry rabies; they are really docile and sweet. Their closest relative is the koala bear. How they have no defense except looking scary and a few quick facts so he would treat opossums with more kindness in the future. He wanted to ask me questions about how he can find me again, if he needs me. I quickly gave him my information and told him that I work with the DFW Wildlife Coalition. He thanked me and I was off.
I drove very slowly and carefully so that she wasn’t jostled anymore than necessary. With all of the blood and her poor little eye, I didn’t think she was going to survive. Surprises do happen. I got her fixed up a little and put her to bed in a soft warm place away from my dog. Her babies still nestled up under her body. I tried to keep them intact so she would feel secure. I gave her some water, but she didn’t really drink any. I let her rest until morning, because I felt like she couldn’t take anything more that day.
The next morning, I was so surprised to find her still alive. Just barely breathing, but still hanging in there. I called my vet and told him I was coming over with a hurt mommy. I got there and he saw her right away. I had her in a box with all of her babies still with her.
Dr.Ward looked at her closely and cleaned her wounds. He told me he thought her jaw was broken, but after some more careful observation, he decided her jaw was not broken. I was so relieved. . Her eye really hurt her and it was awful to watch as he tried to clean it. She had dried blood caked on her head. Most of it came off pretty well and easily. She cried a little bit though. He tried to be as gentle as he could. He gave her some fluids with an IV and gave me one to take home. He gave her a shot of antibiotics and some cortisone to help with the swelling.
When I got her home, I put her on some clean soft towels and let her rest. When I checked on her later that day, she had eaten some food, some of the water had been drunk and some of the strawberry smoothie had also been eaten. I was so happy. The babies were still nursing and she seemed really worn out. I am hoping she will continue getting better. I will continue to keep them and raise the babies; so that they can be released into the wild when they are grown. I will probably keep the mommy, because of her condition. I may keep her for life, because of her eye. I don’t think she can survive in the wild without her eye. I hope she continues to improve every day until she feels great. This is just another day in the life of an animal rehabber.
