Six Rescued Baby Opossums Learn Skills to be Released Back Into the Wild

These 6 newborn opossums lost their mother, and luckily, MoonShine Wildlife Rehab stepped in to help take care of them and get them ready to enter the wild again. The opossums started to grow hair, and their personalities began to shine through.

Feeding time was quite the event to watch. They were all quite rambunctious, and they would roll around in the milk and drag each other around. Once they got bigger and stronger, they started to get feeding time down, and each shared the milk instead of playing with their food.

When they got bigger, they started to like exploring. The rehabilitators got them used to different elements and smell to get them ready to enter the wild. Finally, the opossums were strong enough to enter the wild again and had learned all of the skills they needed to survive.

To learn more about MoonShine Wildlife Rehab and donate to their cause, check out their website.

Opossums are truly remarkable animals with very strong immune systems and great adaptability, and they even use trickery to survive danger. They are quite helpful to humans as they eat garden pests, ticks, and venomous snakes because they are immune to the venom. Despite having a brain that’s only one-fifth the size of a cat, opossums can remember where food is hidden better than dogs, cats, or rats.

Opossums should not be kept as pets, and it is important to remember that if you ever come across an opossum or wild animal, contact wildlife rehabilitation before touching them. Although opossums can be super cute and fluffy, they can also carry diseases.

This article by Hailey Kanowsky was first published by OneGreenPlanet on 7 November 2022. 

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