Peaches the 'Possum

February 10, 2023

I could not help myself but to tell you a little story that happened to me a few nights back. Or I should say very early in the morning.

So I have the feral/domestic cat we call Patches, that comes and goes often. He sleeps in most nights but usually wants out anytime between 2-6 am. I just get up, open the slider by the pool, and off he goes. But this time, he was hesitant. As was I. It was dark, 4:30 in the morning and I peered out to see something small a couple feet from the pool. I turned the light on and took a peek, and it was the tiniest baby opossum I have seen in awhile. She was all curled up tight, wet, and it was very cold out. There was no way she fell in and got out of the pool, I think Mama 'Possum got her out but had to leave her behind.

So, Annette to the rescue! I went back into the house and got a towel to wrap her in so I could get her dried off and warm. Honestly, I still didn't know if she was even alive. She was like frozen stiff. Though I know they play dead, but this was serious.

I take her inside my home, grab another towel and placed in my bathtub as I continue to rub her as dry as I could. Thankfully, I felt a faint heartbeat, so she was alive. But she was still so cold and still, so I decided to do something you will all get a kick out of, but I felt her death was the inevitable unless I do this. My mother instinct kicked in and I placed her dry, but frozen body on my warm belly, under my jammies and sweatshirt and laid down in my bed. I lied there silently and could feel her starting to move a little as she was getting warmer. I had named her Peaches by then. 💕About a half and hour went by and she was definitely starting to move more, and then she peed on my belly, so that told me she was going to be okay. Plus, the last thing I needed her was to bite my boob.😂

Slowly rolling off my bed, I got up up and held her and clearly saw she was all warm and fuzzy, yet very tired. I cleaned myself up, then placed her in the bathtub in a cozy towel, with another towel over, kind of making a little den. She was doing good, so I went to get some cat-food and water and laid it outside her little spot and went to bed.

I got up around 8am or so, and checked on her and she was sound asleep. I softly moved pet her, seeing how her temperature was. I even scratched her under her chin. She was half asleep but I could tell she liked it. Then I left her alone a couple more hours.

As the couple hours went by, I noticed she had come out and ate all the food. I am sure she was starving. Then I lifted the towel up a little to see her, she was already facing out with her mouth open and clearly showing me her teeth. A good sign she was okay. Because that's what opossums do to keep predators away. And since I knew she was nocturnal, I certainly was not going to release here mid-day, so I waited for late evening come, hoping the mama returns. But according to Google search, they do not return for the baby, they move on. That saddened me.

Through-out the day, she just ate away, I gave her some grapes, more cat-food and little bits of hotdog. She loved all of it. At least I knew when I release her, she'll have a full belly. 😊

Around 8pm or so, she was doing great, so I figured it was time to set up a box with a heating pad and more towels, and hope she finds her mama. I placed one camera in the box, another outside the box so I could monitor her. Most important the fox doesn't come before mama or other opossums. That would not be good.

Come to find out, I guess if the baby is longer than a dollar bill from tip of nose to the end of body, not including her tail, then she's more than likely on her own. If smaller, hope mama comes back or I have myself a new pet!

As you can see on the pics or videos, I did the best I could to set her free safely and not keep her much long. She was sweet. My brother Gregg helped me grab her and roll her in another towel to take outside. That was quite comical as Peaches began to squeeze into his armpit. But we got her set up good.

By the time we took her out at around 8:30 pm, and the time she rolled out of the box was really only minutes. I could not resist but to do video clips and share them with you. Unfortunately, Blogger is not working or I am able to input only one video. I will try to place the videos under comments, but in the mean time I cut a couple stills from the videos to at least see her release.