Let me just premise this by saying I have the most wonderful thoughtful husband in the world. He is amazing with our kids and loves animals.
One morning as he was headed off to work, the kids and I walked him to his car. Looking off into the yard I saw something unusually big on the ground. I asked him to check it out. As the kids and I walked through the gate to the backyard so we could play on the swing set he walked back by to get a shovel. Apparently, our dog Winston had found a opossum the night before and sadly killed it. (Doesn’t he know we are an animal loving family?)
As my husband was disposing of the opossum I noticed he was looking around and I wondered if there were babies. He walked by me and I said “do I want to know?” He said “no”. I assumed there were dead babies but they weren’t. He just assumed they wouldn’t make it because they were so small. He went off to work and I immediately went into rescue mode.
In his efforts to help, he had made it even more difficult to find the babies. He had only seen three but had scattered them outside our yard so the dog couldn’t get to them. In the end, we found seven babies, many of which had gotten buried and tangled beneath our dense ground cover. In fact, I used our dog to flush out the last couple since I couldn’t see or hear them but he could smell them.
I put them in a shoe box with a towel to help keep them warm and then I called Walden’s Puddle. It is a non-profit organization that treats “sick, injured, and legitimately orphaned Native Tennessee Wildlife.” We are so fortunate to have them in Middle Tennessee. Their admissions line is (615) 299-9938. You may have to leave a message but they were quick to respond back to me and I was able to drop off the baby opossums that morning.
They said the babies were actually pretty old and should make it. My 2 and half year old still looks under the deck and asks for the babies? I hid them under the deck in their shoebox for a few hours between when we found them and were able to deliver them to Walden’s Puddle. Don’t worry she never touched them but I did let her look at them in the box. I tell her they are in their new home now whenever she asks.
Over the last few months when my husband has told this story, most people have been shocked that I would or anyone would want to save an opossum and many would have responded the same way he did not thinking that they would have a chance to live without their mother. Opossums are God’s creatures too and deserve to live. Sadly, I see too many on the side of the road but any animal you can help is worth saving. Anyone can save a life!
