Our wildlife team receives countless injured animals throughout the spring and summer. Among these patients, there are always some that truly prove to be fighters.Â
In June of 2023, a good samaritan brought us a Virginia opossum who had been hit by a car. At first glance, our wildlife team could tell he had pretty severe injuries, including a large, deep gash on half of his chest, revealing several layers of muscle and a broken tooth with the nerve exposed. While his odds at survival seemed slim, we knew we had to try our best to save him.
Within an hour of his arrival, our incredible veterinary team rushed him into surgery. One of the first things our team had to do was determine the severity of the wound through exploration. Luckily for him, there were no holes within his wound leading to the chest and abdominal cavity. In addition, the cut narrowly missed the shoulder joint by a few millimeters. The wound was then debrided, meaning cleared of any debris, before it was stitched up. The opossum’s broken tooth was also removed since it would only cause him pain in the future.
It was a slow and steady recovery, but this Virginia opossum pulled through! After several months of healing, he was released back into the wild in November, ready to eat lots of insects and worms!Â
This little guy wouldn’t have made it without support from both our wildlife and veterinary teams! To learn more about our wildlife center, click here.