Baby Possum

 My friend Chigiy, knowing what a sucker I am, ambushed me late one night via instant messaging.  Her neighbor, she wrote, had found a wee possum.  Or rather, the dog had flushed it from out of a bush.  The neighbor, Marie, was concerned the little critter wouldn't be safe at her house, and could I take him?

I thought she was punking me.  "Who is this really?" I wrote back.

Once she had convinced me that there really was a baby possum needing shelter, the relevant phone calls were made, and 15 minutes later Marie delivered the little guy to us.  She also brought some milk from her goats and some goat cheese.  I was delighted by all three.

Possums are interesting, being the only North American marsupial and all, but honestly, I  have never really thought of them as cute.  Baby possums, though, are a whole different story.  This little joey was just beautiful, and thankfully, uninjured.  He was very shy, burrowing his head into the blanket  so he didn't have to see our ugly mugs peering at him. Adult possums will hiss when threatened, but this guy was too young; he was completely silent.  At his most menacing, he simply opened his mouth and showed his tiny possum teeth.  Aww.

I gathered supplies -- a small box, some old towels, and a cat-proof cage in which to put everything. A small water dish.  Some hot water bottles to keep him warm.

After some online reading about the care of baby/juvenile possums, I realized he really needed to be in the hands of Wildlife Rescue of Silicon Valley.  Possums apparently require a very specific calcium-to-phosphate ratio to avoid developing Metabolic Bone Disease.  Moreover, our house is full of curious animals and people; a surefire setup for major possum stress.  The other really cool thing I learned about possums is that they very rarely get rabies, probably due to their slightly lower body temperature.  Not that you should pet one if you ever meet one, but it's nice to know.  At least, I thought so.

In the morning, I was happy and relieved to find him not only alive, but out of the box, peering out at us from behind the back flap.

At Wildlife Rescue, they took one look at him and said, almost rolling their eyes, "Ohhhhh....it's another baby possum.  Just wait 'til I tell her..."  They're thick on the ground this time of year, then?  Sheesh.  In a perfect world, my friend's neighbor might have brought her dog inside and waited a couple hours.  I bet Mama Possum would have come back for her baby when the coast was clear.

Despite the jaded attitudes of the volunteers at the rescue center, I know they'll feed him right, and make sure he doesn't habituate to human contact.  He'll have litter mates.  I'm glad for him.

He was precious and perfect; we indulged ourselves with a few photos.