How do Wildlife Rehabilitators Take Care of Opossums?

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Opossums are bound to get injured, sick or orphaned and when they do, there is a need for them to be cared for. Wildlife rehabilitators are the trained personnel that treat and care for sick, orphaned and injured animals; and prepare them for subsequent release back into the wild where they belong. In other words, wildlife rehabilitators take care of distressed animals. The ultimate goal of rehabilitating a distressed opossum is for its later release into the wild to play its part in the ecosysytem.



Due to the delicate nature of their job, wildlife rehabilitators must have been well trained, and should possess extensive knowledge of wild animals - including their habitats, feeding mode, diets and other vital stuff that will come in useful during their care work.

The first thing a wildlife rehabilitator does when rehabilitating an opossum is to receive the animal and assess its condition to determine what actually is wrong with it.

Next, the rehabilitator administers a first line of treatment to the animal; this treatment includes rehydrating, providing warmth and stable shelter to the animal. More care is required if the opossum is a baby. Wildlife rehabilitators often work with veterinarians to proffer adequate care for a distressed critter.

After extensive care must have been given to the orphaned, injured or sick opossum, as the case may be, it is then prepared for re-entry into the wild. The animal is introduced to a large, outdoor environment which resembles its natural habitat. Here, the response of the opossum will be studied to determine its readiness and capability to survive out in the woodlands. If its response is good and encouraging, the animal gets released into the wild by the personnel, or it is retained for a longer period until it is ready to go.

In some cases, wildlife rehabilitators do more than just taking care of opossums and releasing them into the wild. If a critter fails to respond to treatment or proves incapable of surviving in the wild on its own, its life is terminated humanely by euthanization. This is because it is inhumane to release an opossum into the wild when it is obviously going to be preyed on cruelly. However, on very rare occasions, a wildlife rehabilitator may commit an opossum to an educational facility where it would live out the remaining days of its life.

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