9 more opossums

This litter of 9 opossums was brought to me by the Humane Society. Three of them were seriously injured and did not make it. The healthy six are doing well.

Fawn

This is Bambi, the first fawn to join Nutkin's Nursery. Bambi is a male, about two weeks old. He takes goat milk replacer four times a day and nibbles on greens and sweet- feed.

Opossums released

Well, the opossum is a very interesting creature...
I decided to leave their cage open one night (they are nocturnal) to see if they would forage on their own and then return. They high-tailed it out of there and never came back! I guess they were ready. They were a little bigger than they are in these pics.

Update on Twiggy

Twiggy is a full-grown squirrel now and making quite a nuisance of himself. We moved his nestbox to a tree in the yard and continue to give him food when he comes around. He spends most of his time in the "wild" with the other squirrels in our large yard, but about once a day, he shows up on the doorstep and begs for snacks. Yesterday he gave us quite a scare. I was washing windows, and had the kitchen screen removed and the window open when suddenly Twiggy jumped through the window into the room. My little girls both screamed! But Twiggy is still affectionate with me and will let me pet and "groom" him, which is good, because he has been picking up ticks.

Raising Possums

We have three orphaned possums! They are doing well. They have a flannel "pouch" to snuggle in, and they have been licking up food on their own. Speaking of food, apparently the diet of the opossum is complex. If anyone reading this has experience with possums please contact me; I could use the advice.

Twiggy

This is our new patient, Twiggy. He came to us at 5 weeks of age. Within a few days, his eyes opened. He is a timid little guy.

Also, an update: The possums in the last post did not make it. They all died within 24 hours. Squeaks, the vole, was successfully released back into the wild.

Opossums

Today I received 4 baby opossums. I think they are about 8 to 9 weeks old. Their eyes are still closed. The mother opossum was hit by a car. A kind, elderly gentleman (who doesn't own a car and walks everywhere) was brave enough to check her pouch and found 9 babies! Two were already dead, and another three died before he could get them to me. But I'm cautiously optimistic that the four left will make it. I was able to get some fluids into them tonight with my trusty catac nipple and 1cc syringe.
I've never handled opossums before. They are really weird. They have thumbs on their back feet and prehensile tails. They look like little monkeys. I really hope they survive so I can learn more about them. They are the only marsupial species in North America.

Squeaks

Our vole is doing very well! She is almost full grown. The arm in this picture and video belongs to my 7 year-old daughter, Cami. She helps take care of Squeaks.

First Patient-- a Vole

Oddly enough, our first official patient here at Nutkin's Nursery is not a squirrel, but a baby vole (short-tailed field mouse). It is a female, approximately 10 days old. She was taken from a nest by a house cat, whose owner kindly brought the unharmed baby to me. She is taking Esbilac formula well, and I expect her to wean onto solid food within a week.

Preparations

It is February, and there is 6 inches of snow on the ground, but preparations are being made for the spring nesting season. We have this website up and running. We have business cards printed. And we have a new squirrel cage designed. As soon as the weather cooperates, we can start constructing. Meanwhile, here are some cute squirrel pictures.