If you happened to read the last couple of post you know we helped in the rescue of two baby possums. The first one we named Tina. She was very small and after a couple of days, we arranged to give her to be rehabbed. Then we got a little guy we named Joey. He was a little older and had two wound marks on his left side, below his jaw. This is an update on them both.

When I last wrote about Joey he had been with us for about a week. He responded well to the medication Dr. Robbie had given him and was growing fast. His daily diet consisted of chicken paté cat food, shredded chicken cat food, and applesauce. He loved the applesauce and that was what he headed for first each time. He was putting on weight pretty fast.

Each day we let him out twice for a couple of hours in the bathroom to exercise. There were no cubbies or hiding places so we thought it was okay. What we did not take into consideration was his ability to climb. We first noticed it when he climbed onto the lowest shelf of our bamboo stand. Then he managed to climb to the second self but could go no higher. Okay, we thought, that’s not bad.

One day I returned to the bathroom to get him to put back into his box. I walked in and freaked out. He was nowhere to be found. I looked all around and on the shelves and behind the trash cans but he was not there. I called for Saskia and while I was waiting for her I looked up for some reason. I found him. He had climbed to the top of the shower curtain. I must admit, I was impressed.

About three weeks ago we checked with the rehabilitor and she said he was probably big enough to release but she could not take him yet. In addition to Tina, she had three other possums in the release cage and she said they seemed to be in no hurry to leave. So we keep him for another week. He was not a problem and was easy to care for but we had to be very careful because we have two dogs and two cats. The longer he was with us, the more curious they became. By the end of that week, he was almost one pound.

Two weekends ago we arranged to take him to be released. The woman who works with the injured animals has a large farm that is fairly remote. We showed up with Joey and she explained the process to us. She would place him in the cage and keep him there for two weeks. She would feed him and explained that staying in the cage would allow him to get used to other night animals as well as being out at night. At the end of the two weeks, she would start leaving the door open in a manner creating a small crack for him to go out and in. What happens is they do this until one day they just do not come back.

This weekend is the end of his two weeks. 

Bye Joey, I’m going to miss you!

By-the-way, Tina has done very well and will probably go in the release cage when Joey comes out.