Springtime Babies: Opossums
One of the lesser-appreciated wild animals in this area is the Virginia Opossum. Opossums are mammals with white faces, black ears, round bodies covered in gray fur, and bare tails. Honestly, they’re not cute. They are, however, extremely helpful to the ecosystem and eat a wide variety of foods, including dead animals, plants, insects, fruits, snakes, frogs, and whatever else it can get its hands on.
They’re famous for eating people’s garbage and have a dirty reputation because of this. What many don’t know is that they’re actually great for preventing the spread of disease in the wild. Opossums commonly eat ticks — preventing the spread of lyme disease — about 90% of the opossum population is immune to rabies, and their consumption of dead animals helps keep their environment clean.
Sometimes people see the opossum’s tail and mistake it for a rodent. Opossums are actually marsupials. They’re the only marsupial in all of North America, which means that the mothers keep their young in a pouch during much of their infancy.
Opossum pregnancies last for only 12 days before they give birth to tiny, jelly-bean sized joeys (yes, baby opossums are called joeys) who must then crawl into the pouch. Once there, they latch onto a nipple so they can receive their mother’s milk 24/7. They’ll stay in the pouch for up to 2 months. Once they get too big for the pouch, the mother will carry them on her back and care for them until they’re old enough to take care of themselves, usually at around 4 months of age.
Baby opossums can become orphaned if their mother dies or if they fall off of their mother’s back. The most common reason that opossums become orphaned is when their mother is hit by a car. If you find a mother opossum who has been hit by a car and is injured or dead, see if there are babies nearby or in her pouch. Bring both the mother and her babies to a wildlife rehabilitation center immediately. If the babies are inside her pouch, leave them there. Be sure to use gloves while handling them.
If you find a baby opossum on its own, chances are that it’s not actually orphaned. Young opossums are old enough to venture out on their own when they’re only 8 inches long, not including the tail. Many people see a small opossum and assume that it’s an orphan when it’s actually old enough to take care of itself. If you do see an opossum that’s shorter than 8 inches from its nose to the base of its tail, then it’s likely orphaned and will need to be cared for by a wildlife rehabilitation facility. If the baby is injured (has a broken bone, open wounds, is bleeding, or is deformed), then it must be taken to a rehab center. In Porter County, our local rehabilitation center is Humane Indiana Wildlife. If you have any questions about what you should do, give them a call at (219) 299-8027 and they’ll be able to help you.
Opossums are fascinating animals that many people disregard as unimportant because they’re not cute and cuddly. Many don’t think their babies are cute either, though many wildlife-lovers would disagree with that (white face, big eyes, pink nose, big floppy ears…how is that not cute?). Whatever your opinion, opossums are important to our ecosystem and are in real danger of being hit by cars. If one is injured, we must do our part to help them in any way we can.