A fellow rehabber mentioned that we aren't even halfway through (round one of) baby season and she is already tired. I don't think I would have made it this far without melting down if I hadn't been able to shunt most of the intakes to my mentees or to other rehabbers. There is a new rehabber who is working with bats and I am so grateful- there are only 4 of us in the state that work with bats so I feel extreme guilt having to turn them down. I feel guilt all the time, anyways, for having to say no and not knowing what happens to the animals I can't take.
The opossum I named Meat Baby Food Mama, because for the longest time that’s all she would eat, raised her babies in relative peace here. They enjoyed the big outdoor enclosure and grew big! Her wounds healed, they grew up, and the whole family was taken back to their home location and released.
Dave the opossum came here when his friend Heather saw him weak and stumbling. After 3 weeks of R&R he was healthy enough and gained enough weight I felt he could be released back to his home location. I managed to somehow end up trading him for another debilitated male, Marzipan, from the same location!
Opossums like Sarah keep my spirits up when there are sad stories floating around the rest of the rescue. I have taken in a few babies who didn’t make it, or were too injured to survive. It hasn’t been easy and I never could have planned for how I was going to face any complications like sick and injured animals. I had one bad 24 hours where I lost 3 animals. But I have so many healthy ones, and the 28 with the rehabbers I am mentoring are all doing well. 7 of them are set to be released in the next 10 days to 2 weeks!
2025 Sabbatical