12 Babies Take A Toll On A Virginia Opossum Mom

The following story about a Virginia opossum was submitted by Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

21M12 is a mother Virginia opossum with 12 babies that was found trapped in the finder’s compost in Candler, North Carolina.

She suffered minor abrasions on her feet and nose trying to escape. Her body condition was poor upon arrival, weighing in at 2.3 kilograms (about 5 pounds). You could easily feel her spine, ribs, and hip bones.

Her babies were all healthy and doing well, safe in her pouch. She was struggling to find food. The babies were only the size of jelly beans, but having 12 of them took a toll on her.

We started offering a mix of EmerAid IC Omnivore and IC Carnivore for her every evening along with her dry food and special opossum diet.

She has gained back more weight and her body condition is continuing to improve. We will keep her here with us until she returns to a healthy body condition. After that, we will release her back into the wild to continue to care for her young.