We picked up a newborn opossum on the side of the road...

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Dead of Knight

Dead of Knight

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My boyfriend and I were taking a walk tonight and we saw a dead opossum on the side of the road. We felt sad for a second, and then we noticed a newborn suckling it. Then we noticed the newborn was STILL ALIVE. We pretty much made it up in our minds immediately that we would take it. We got home and gave it some milk from a dropper. I'm typing with my left hand and holding it with my right right now and it's covered in a washcloth. It was very cold when we picked it up and had probably been there awhile. We don't really know what to do with the darn thing. They'd obviously kill it if we called Animal Control. Does anyone have any advice? Here's a pic:

baby.jpg
 
Raise it as your own child!


just kidding.

You really need to get advice on this quickly. Are you sure Animal Control will kill it? It's best to call an emergency vet in your area and take it in quick. You don't have the resources to take care of a newborn like that and you have no idea what kind of health condition it is in (it may be sick and abandoned by it's mother). AND NO YOUR OWN BREAST MILK WON'T WORK!!!!!. It might not survive the night or the next few days.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']Raise it as your own child!


just kidding.

You really need to get advice on this quickly. Are you sure Animal Control will kill it? It's best to call an emergency vet in your area and take it in quick. You don't have the resources to take care of a newborn like that and you have no idea what kind of health condition it is in (it may be sick and abandoned by it's mother). It might not survive the night or the next few days.[/QUOTE]

It wasn't abandoned by its mom, the mom died, possibly even before its birth. Perhaps we could go to a vet, but I don't know if they'd know what they'd do with it (I had a hard enough time finding a vet for my domestic rabbit). It seems pretty frisky for a newborn, though right now it's resting calmly in my hand. I think it might be a good idea to call an animal hospital at least.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']It wasn't abandoned by its mom, the mom died, possibly even before its birth. Perhaps we could go to a vet, but I don't know if they'd know what they'd do with it (I had a hard enough time finding a vet for my domestic rabbit). It seems pretty frisky for a newborn, though right now it's resting calmly in my hand. I think it might be a good idea to call an animal hospital at least.[/quote]

Well tell your BF to call 411 and get the number for a 24 hour vet in your area. This is serious. Time is ticking.

[quote name='Rocko']Try to find a wildlife rehabilitator here:

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm

It also has links to three other sites to check on.[/quote]

Try this too.
 
[quote name='PhrostByte']Why not just take care of it and raise it as a pet?[/quote]


Because she doesn't know jack about this. If the mother is dead (road kill or other wise), your gonna need something in substitution for what the mother provides. Getting it to a vet or other animal facility would be the best bet as they have the equipment for these things.
 
[quote name='shieryda']You should have just left it alone.[/quote]
Even if it dies in her care, it had no chance out there with a dead mother anyway. How could you say this?
 
[quote name='Rocko']Even if it dies in her care, it had no chance out there with a dead mother anyway. How could you say this?[/quote]

It's a fucking wild animal, dude. Opossum are mean, nasty creatures, anyways.

And nobody said shit to the guy who suggested to "launch it like a baseball".:roll:
 
[quote name='Rocko']Even if it dies in her care, it had no chance out there with a dead mother anyway. How could you say this?[/quote]Maybe because IT'S A fuckING POSSUM. That's right, I don't spell it with the O, that's stupid.
 
I actually had this happen to me a year or two ago. We found 4 babies in their mothers pouch. She had been hit by a car and died, but they survived. We ended up raising them as a pet, they weren't really that hard to take care of. They really liked Egg Yolk, and you kinda have to force feed them at that age.

However, they are really messy, and active. So eventually we released them into the wild.

EDIT: @Shieryda, The Possum's we had were some of the nicest animals ever. They weren't mean at all. They would even want to sit with you, and wrap their tail around your finger. It was really cute.
 
You white folks find ways to confuse me more and more.

No matter how many times you read that a white person was eaten, attacked, mauled, killed by a wild animal you find more ways to put yourselves out there.

I wouldnt be surprised if the title was, "We picked up a new born possum...then was attacked by its family. I now have super aids and my boyfriend has the plague."
 
[quote name='shieryda']It's a fucking wild animal, dude. Oppossum are mean, nasty creatures, anyways.[/quote]

It's also a few days old. What's it going to do? Cry out at you feebly? Oh god no!

She wants to give it to someone who can help, not keep it and raise it, so what's the problem?

[quote name='VanillaGorilla']Maybe because IT'S A fuckING POSSUM. That's right, I don't spell it with the O, that's stupid.[/quote]
See above.
 
[quote name='Soodmeg']You white folks find ways to confuse me more and more.

No matter how many times you read that a white person was eaten, attacked, mauled, killed by a wild animal you find more ways to put yourselves out there.

I wouldnt be surprised if the title was, "We picked up a new born possum...then was attacked by its family. I now have super aids and my boyfriend has the plague."[/quote]

I agree. I would leave it alone.
 
[quote name='Soodmeg']You white folks find ways to confuse me more and more.

No matter how many times you read that a white person was eaten, attacked, mauled, killed by a wild animal you find more ways to put yourselves out there.

I wouldnt be surprised if the title was, "We picked up a new born possum...then was attacked by its family. I now have super aids and my boyfriend has the plague."[/quote]

LOL, that has to be one of the funniest posts I've seen in awhile
 
[quote name='Soodmeg']You white folks find ways to confuse me more and more.

No matter how many times you read that a white person was eaten, attacked, mauled, killed by a wild animal you find more ways to put yourselves out there.

I wouldnt be surprised if the title was, "We picked up a new born possum...then was attacked by its family. I now have super aids and my boyfriend has the plague."[/quote]

"You white people"??? Oh, boy.
 
[quote name='shieryda']"You white people"??? Oh, boy.[/quote]

Dont mess with soodmeg....He'll run yo ass over in his sweet ass hooptie

bfcoolrunnings119.jpg
 
[quote name='bigdaddy']My cat has killed about 15 baby ones, now I wish she would kill the mom that destroys my lawn.[/quote]

That would be a pretty good fight.
 
Well DoK is offline so she might be on her way to the wildlife place. We might not get an update til sometime tomorrow where

A. The animal died on route

B. The animal dies at the location.

C. The animal gets put into an incubator.

D. DoK and her BF stays in the location All night long to see what happens next.

Unless the wildlife place does this for free.... this is gonna cost her $$$$$
 
I doubt animal rehabilitation clinics cost money. People would leave the animals to die. The one around here doesn't.
 
[quote name='Rocko']I doubt animal rehabilitation clinics cost money. People would leave the animals to die. The one around here doesn't.[/quote]

Yeah, I doubt they'd charge for taking in wildlife. I believe most are non-profit, anyways.
 
[quote name='darthbudge']The Possum's we had were some of the nicest animals ever. They weren't mean at all. They would even want to sit with you, and wrap their tail around your finger. It was really cute.[/quote]


That's awesome. A little opossum to dangle from your forefinger. I have no idea why some folks seem so hostile towards an orphaned critter (or seem unaware of how to spell its name properly.)

It would be one thing to buy one from an idiot vendor, but rescuing an orphaned one is something else (actually, it sounds like a lot of work to me, to raise a feral, nocturnal animal.)

I'm not familiar with opossums, and so I have no insight into any special needs they might have. I would imagine that the little guy would need what any baby mammal needs: to be kept fed, warm, clean, and safe from anything that might eat it or crush it accidentally.
 
[quote name='RBM']That's awesome. A little opossum to dangle from your forefinger. I have no idea why some folks seem so hostile towards an orphaned critter (or seem unaware of how to spell its name properly.)

.[/quote]

I corrected my spelling for you.
 
I would've done the same thing, DoK...in fact, I've done it quite a few times, but never with an opossum (yet, anyways). Being on the road for my job, I come across young animals quite often. Being an animal lover, if they need help and after I've come to the conclusion that it's not dangerous to me, I help as quick as I can. I saved (at least for the immediate future) a baby raccoon last year. It was abandoned in the middle of the road and no doubt would've been roadkill if I didn't drive by when I did. I just stayed with it in the middle of the road while calling a local 24 hr emergency vet (already in my phone because this happens quite a bit). The vet thought I was crazy because raccoons are dangerous and might have rabies, but I refused to leave it in the middle of the road. I couldn't get in touch with anyone who would come for it, so I ended up using a newspaper to nudge it out of the road and I ended up picking it up with the paper and leaving it in the nearby woods. It probably died, I don't know...or it's mother may have found him/her, again, I don't know. I see a young raccoon around that area pretty often and I like to think that it's the same raccoon alive because of me.

I have a few cell-phone videos if I can find a way to post them in here, I will...it might've been the cutest thing in the world...but everyone I called told me I couldn't keep it and should never touch it, so I didn't. The vet actually told me to leave it alone altogether, in the middle of the road and all.

In the past few years, I've found kittens, baby birds, turtles (small) and a huge snapping turtle that almost bit my leg off last year lol. The kittens usually come with me and get bottle fed until I find a home for them, same with the birds...but the turtles just shoved to the side of the road lol.

I also found duck eggs when I was in high school. My best-friend and I were in a creek during a storm (pretty smart) and a dam was being washed away with a disheveled nest full of eggs. We didn't know what they were until we took them home and helped hatch 3 out of 5 of them (warm blanket, lamp, etc). One ended up dying, but we found homes for the other 2.

Anyways, good job DoK. A lot of people are f-ed up in the world and would've just had fun running it over...they sicken me.
 
Are you still looking for suggestions?

Give it to this guy.

Edit: Hmmm. Temporarily banned. Probably for something stupid too. The blood of the young animal shall be on the hands of the mods.
 
Well, we called one of the places on Rocko's link (http://www.ohiowildlifecenter.org/) and they actually had emergency volunteers there to take it in right away. It was across town, but we went, and they took it in. We donated the amount of money it would cost for them to take care of it for 65 days, apparently Ohio law states they have to keep opossums and racoons for 65 days no matter what (probably rabies). On the form we filled out we checked that we would like an update on it no matter what, so whenever that happens, I'll post here. We saw them weight it and continue to warm it up in their hands with the washcloth we left them with.

I'd like to thank Rocko again. We are so appreciative for your post. It seems so obvious when you think about it- taking it to a place like that- but we didn't even think about it and didn't know there was a place so close by. And yes, it was free of charge, but we did donate money like I said.
 
Nicely handled. Please keep us posted.

And, if I may be so bold, how much was it to keep it there? Feel free to decline if you wish.
 
I'd say your main worry (besides feeding him/her) might be rabies if they can be passed down to the offspring. I don't know much about rabies, but that's what I've always been told that my main concern should be (especially with opossums and raccoons).

You should do a youtube search with simply "baby opossum" as your search. It's pretty interesting to see how other people in the same situation have made out.

Here's a link to one for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3mvzs_60EE

Here's the link to the raccoon I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzI2DDfgPZQ

Good luck.


EDIT: Disregard most of this post. I didn't see you posted back, saying that you found a place for him/her before I responded.
 
Question: How do I prevent an opossum from drowning in my pool?

Question:Opossum Pooping in yard

Question:My neighbor kills or tortures animals. What can I do?

Question:Will an opossum attack my pets?

Question: Will an opossum bite my children?
Question: I heard horses could get EPM from opossums. True?

Question: Opossums eat the fruit off my trees. How can I stop them?

 Question: I think opossums are digging holes in my roof or yard.


And just for good measure:


freque3.gif






 
[quote name='Strell']Are you still looking for suggestions?

Give it to this guy.

Edit: Hmmm. Temporarily banned. Probably for something stupid too. The blood of the young animal shall be on the hands of the mods.[/QUOTE]
One-Schrute-Buck-large.jpg
 
[quote name='Strell']Are you still looking for suggestions?

Give it to this guy.

Edit: Hmmm. Temporarily banned. Probably for something stupid too. The blood of the young animal shall be on the hands of the mods.[/quote]

Self requested.
 
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