Spring has sprung and so has baby season! Through the months of March to May, CROW sees patient numbers triple with the influx of babies coming into the clinic. Along with several ducklings, nestlings, and raccoon kits, there are currently over 60 juvenile or infant Virginia Opossums in our care.

Sometimes baby animals can be orphaned or abandoned, which is what is suspected for many of these opossum joeys. Unlike other mammals, opossums are marsupials, which means the babies begin growing prematurely within the mother’s pouch, sometimes up to 12 at one time! Once older and larger, they can be carried on the mother’s back. Occasionally one or two may fall off and not be able to get back on. 

These little ones are currently being hand fed multiple times a day, cozied up in our incubators until they are big enough to be released back into the wild.

A baby’s best chance of survival is with its mother in its natural habitat. Unless an animal has an obvious injury or has fallen from its nest, it is best to leave wildlife alone! Only after all other avenues have been exhausted should humans interfere and remove a wild animal from its environment.  

If you care, leave it there.

CROW Case A Week stories are patient features written by Jordan Bryant, CROW’s Education and Marketing Intern. These stories appear weekly in Santiva Chronicle.