Species: Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
Intake Date: September 2, 2025
Pesto, our resident Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana), was brought to the Wildlife Medical Clinic as a neonate orphan on September 2, 2025. Upon presentation, he had a complete amputation of his tail but was otherwise healthy. Due to his missing tail, he was deemed non-releasable as opossum need their tail for balance, climbing, and carrying nesting material. He did come in with 5 siblings and all of his siblings were transferred to another rehabilitator and were released once they were appropriate size. He was originally kept in the Wildlife Medical Clinic until he was weaned from formula and started on a soft food diet. Once that occurred, he was moved out to the ambassador building and monitored closely to make sure he was thriving in this new environment. After about a week’s time, our volunteers were all trained to work with him and have been enjoying socializing with him and getting him used to his new role as an animal ambassador. He has been an amazing addition to our ambassador program and will be a wonderful ambassador for his species!
Fun Facts
Opossums have fifty teeth which is the most teeth of any North American land mammal! Opossums are often shown hanging by their tails in movies and other depictions, but this is not common, especially in adult opossums. Instead, tails are used for balance and collecting nesting materials. If an opossum joey is found without its mother, mom is NOT coming back (opossums always stay with their offspring and cannot tell if one is missing). The joey should be taken to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible.