Over a month since I last posted, there's so much to fit into one post! Enjoy the photos and journey!
I’m not even sure where to start! I enjoyed the company of so many talented and capable volunteers this summer and have a few sticking around into fall. Madison Martin, Julia Thomas, Carleigh Hiller, Alyssa Owens, Lauren DeLuca and Alex Gautreaux helped make things run as smoothly as possible with a full house. In early July the Primarily ‘Possums inhabitants got down to under 30 but quickly soared again to nearly 50. The two cuties pictured here are Lily and Lionel who came in at the end of May and we released back where they were found last week, at Black Rock Mountain state park. Thank you, Hadjidakis family for bringing them here when they found them, and then picking them up to release back home.
All babies start here on the same diet- a milk replacer of one variety or another. I have been using a combination of Fox Valley brand and Esbilac milk replacers along with extra ingredients for 12 years but this year on the encouragement of other rehabbers, I am trying one from Australia. The brand is Wombaroo and it’s made specifically for possums! Yes, possums, not opossums, but close enough it meets their needs exactly.
I still have 4 enclosures of 6 joeys each (The Overholser Kids, The Backstreet Boys and their tour manager, the Milnes, and Spanky/Manny/Buddy/Lilly/Maude as well as 2 smaller enclosures with 2 each, then the 8 in the incubator, the bat, and Penny/Job/Monkey and Little Jug inside. The calls have slowed down but not stopped. My birthday fundraiser raised over $1000 which will go to caring for the ones I will overwinter…for the next 7 months…which right now stands at 10. Let’s hope it stays there! Thanks for your patience between posts and thanks for reading!
