Hi there,

Can you estimate how old it is? How large is it approximately in inches?

My first recommendation would be to leave it alone and watch it for a few
days. If the tail gets infected, you may have to intervene.

You can call Sarvey Wildlife Center for help; I was there on Sunday and they
have a couple dozen young opossums, ranging in ages. They would put your
youngster in with a group of similarly-aged opossums, and release the
"litter" at the right time, after his tail had healed.

Be careful, though, about handling them. DO NOT under any circumstances
handle them with your bare hands. While they are really cute, they are
still wild animals, and if (s)he bites you and breaks the skin, then by law,
it would have to be euthanized.

The best action is temporary inaction, for the time being. It is possible
that the youngster has just dispersed and is trying to find new habitat for
itself. The best thing you can do is to NOT feed it any more, so that it
doesn't continue to come close to the house. A difficult thing to do, yes,
but overall the best thing in the long run. While the young oppossum is
really cute and relatively harmless, you have to consider whether you want
an adult (and they do get rather huge) biting your cat(s) or dog(s). And
it really does need to learn to hunt and forage on its own if it's going to
survive in the wild effectively.

So, while it's hard to do, just watch it for a while. If the infection gets
bad, you can bring it to Sarvey. But chances are that the wounds on the
tail will heal without incident, and the youngster will go on its merry way.

If you need anything else, please feel free to email me directly.

-Jacki Bricker
Woodinville, Washington



-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Flwrwm at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 1999 9:24 PM
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Babe Opossum


Hi Tweets!
Read good and varied advice on Mr. Raccoon's ill-manners, so
I'm hopeful on getting any advice on my Opossum, Jr.
The babe opossum could fit in the outline of my hand. It
showed up under my eves in my rampant vine eating peanut
butter. (For birds) Wasn't scared, licked apple slice I wedged
in vine, and slowly tight-roped it back to the middle of vine.
Looked for Mama or others and saw none.
That was last night at 8:00 pm, Today in broad daylight 5:00pm,
it returned! Same thing-no momma!
Its tail has two slight wounds, head,fur and legs look okay.
Okay, dare I say it? It's soooo cute!!!
So
A. Do leave it ALONE?
B. Collect it because of its age,
and take it to PAWS?
Thanks for all the knowledge!!!
Kathy K.
Edgewood, Wash.
Flwrwm at aol.com