Little 'possum-something's missing!
Answering the urgent sounding rap at my back door one afternoon, I found my neighbor with a towel wrapped something in his arms. "Star brought this home", he gasped.
Star was his part Husky dog who roamed free in the woodsy areas surrounding our properties. " Well let's see what you've got", I responded, lifting the towel package from his hands. I unfolded the towel to discover the very cold, very still, body of a young opossum. It was very hard to discern any breathing; however there was a wee movement of the tiny chest every once in a while. Where his long bare tail should have been there was only a bloody stump.
The stump was no longer bleeding.To all appearance the little creature was dead. But this was an opossum, and while
he was certainly in some amount of pain, he was mostly "playing possum." Possums have the ability to fake death when
in danger. They are so good at it that often the attacker will think it dead and no longer have any interest in it. This was the case with Star. "Star was just playing with it and bit off the tail by mistake", stated my neighbor. To myself I thought "Well Star is mostly Husky -- maybe not playing." But the neighbor loved his dog so I kept quiet. When he left I laid the possum on a heating pad which was beneath a soft blanket. I cleaned the tail stub with Hydrogen peroxide and applied an antibiotic ointment. No bandage was needed nor advisable. The bone was broken off cleanly where two vertebrae had been connected and there was enough tissue surrounding the bone end that I felt it would grow over the stump without stitch or bandaging.
After an hour on the pad the possum was still not responsive.
Quiet and warm, it seemed to me he should have. His skin was beginning to "tent" (stay up in a peak when pinched) which indicated dehydration. I turned his little legs over trying to locate a vein into which I could introduce fluid therapy. Whether due to his semi-dormant condition or perhaps heavy blood loss earlier, I could not raise any vein enough to use.
Then I thought about a procedure we had practiced recently at
one of our monthly rehab get-togethers. A lady who dealt primarily with injured birds showed us how to place a needle
into the head of the femur to hook up an intravenous line to
introduce fluid to the bird's body. It just might work on this chap I thought. I shaved a spot over the patient's hip, and after cleansing the area, I slowly and gently inserted the needle into the bone. Then I attached the line feeding Lactose ringer's solution (which I had warmed by sitting the bag in a pan of warm water before hanging) and adjusted the drip to very slow. In about 30 minutes the small legs began to move and eventually the possum raised his head.
He did not move enough at first to disengage his line, so I left it running for another 30 minutes. Now he was awake. I left him on the heating pad and placed him in a cage covered with a towel and let him return to life where he felt safe.
The possum made a full recovery. He stayed in a cage on the porch until I felt certain he was strong and eating well.
Now we faced a big problem. Here was an opossum with no tail!
You see pictures of these guys hanging upside down, tail wrapped around a branch, but this is not necessary to their well being. I guess they just like to do it. This possum was sleeping in a bed of dry leaves in the cage just fine.
What the tail is essential for is nest building. An adult opossum carries dry leaves to the nest area by wrapping the long bare tail around a bunch and climbing up the tree to the nest area.
I did not have a large outdoor pen with a tree in it. Another girl from our group did. So she took the possum and placed him inside. As we watched he checked out the tree. REturning to the ground, he went to the leaves piled on one side of the cage in preparation for his arrival. He twitched his stub in the leaves over and over, but of course was unable to pick up any leaves with it. This continued most of the afternoon. At dusk he gave up and curled up in the leaf pile on the ground to sleep. We decided he might never be able to return to the woods since sleeping on the ground would put him at risk from predators far more skilled (or hungry) than Star.
Next morning the opossum ate the mouse which the lady dropped into the cage. He rested a bit, then as if the thought had suddenly occurred to him, he ambled to the leaf pile and taking a big bunch of the crackly dry leaves in his mouth, up the tree he went and began to assemble a nest. Once he was functioning well enough on his own, he was taken to the hillside
away from dwellings and released from his carrier. We left him a small food supply to keep him going until he had time to get his bearings. Right away he scuttled through the bushes, pausing briefly, then climbing the nearest tree.
Amazing how nature can adapt! We were so happy to know this
fellow could live his intended life.
I hope he met a female who did not object to a mate with no tail.
Star was his part Husky dog who roamed free in the woodsy areas surrounding our properties. " Well let's see what you've got", I responded, lifting the towel package from his hands. I unfolded the towel to discover the very cold, very still, body of a young opossum. It was very hard to discern any breathing; however there was a wee movement of the tiny chest every once in a while. Where his long bare tail should have been there was only a bloody stump.
The stump was no longer bleeding.To all appearance the little creature was dead. But this was an opossum, and while
he was certainly in some amount of pain, he was mostly "playing possum." Possums have the ability to fake death when
in danger. They are so good at it that often the attacker will think it dead and no longer have any interest in it. This was the case with Star. "Star was just playing with it and bit off the tail by mistake", stated my neighbor. To myself I thought "Well Star is mostly Husky -- maybe not playing." But the neighbor loved his dog so I kept quiet. When he left I laid the possum on a heating pad which was beneath a soft blanket. I cleaned the tail stub with Hydrogen peroxide and applied an antibiotic ointment. No bandage was needed nor advisable. The bone was broken off cleanly where two vertebrae had been connected and there was enough tissue surrounding the bone end that I felt it would grow over the stump without stitch or bandaging.
After an hour on the pad the possum was still not responsive.
Quiet and warm, it seemed to me he should have. His skin was beginning to "tent" (stay up in a peak when pinched) which indicated dehydration. I turned his little legs over trying to locate a vein into which I could introduce fluid therapy. Whether due to his semi-dormant condition or perhaps heavy blood loss earlier, I could not raise any vein enough to use.
Then I thought about a procedure we had practiced recently at
one of our monthly rehab get-togethers. A lady who dealt primarily with injured birds showed us how to place a needle
into the head of the femur to hook up an intravenous line to
introduce fluid to the bird's body. It just might work on this chap I thought. I shaved a spot over the patient's hip, and after cleansing the area, I slowly and gently inserted the needle into the bone. Then I attached the line feeding Lactose ringer's solution (which I had warmed by sitting the bag in a pan of warm water before hanging) and adjusted the drip to very slow. In about 30 minutes the small legs began to move and eventually the possum raised his head.
He did not move enough at first to disengage his line, so I left it running for another 30 minutes. Now he was awake. I left him on the heating pad and placed him in a cage covered with a towel and let him return to life where he felt safe.
The possum made a full recovery. He stayed in a cage on the porch until I felt certain he was strong and eating well.
Now we faced a big problem. Here was an opossum with no tail!
You see pictures of these guys hanging upside down, tail wrapped around a branch, but this is not necessary to their well being. I guess they just like to do it. This possum was sleeping in a bed of dry leaves in the cage just fine.
What the tail is essential for is nest building. An adult opossum carries dry leaves to the nest area by wrapping the long bare tail around a bunch and climbing up the tree to the nest area.
I did not have a large outdoor pen with a tree in it. Another girl from our group did. So she took the possum and placed him inside. As we watched he checked out the tree. REturning to the ground, he went to the leaves piled on one side of the cage in preparation for his arrival. He twitched his stub in the leaves over and over, but of course was unable to pick up any leaves with it. This continued most of the afternoon. At dusk he gave up and curled up in the leaf pile on the ground to sleep. We decided he might never be able to return to the woods since sleeping on the ground would put him at risk from predators far more skilled (or hungry) than Star.
Next morning the opossum ate the mouse which the lady dropped into the cage. He rested a bit, then as if the thought had suddenly occurred to him, he ambled to the leaf pile and taking a big bunch of the crackly dry leaves in his mouth, up the tree he went and began to assemble a nest. Once he was functioning well enough on his own, he was taken to the hillside
away from dwellings and released from his carrier. We left him a small food supply to keep him going until he had time to get his bearings. Right away he scuttled through the bushes, pausing briefly, then climbing the nearest tree.
Amazing how nature can adapt! We were so happy to know this
fellow could live his intended life.
I hope he met a female who did not object to a mate with no tail.
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