Playing possum

Ophelia, the educational ambassador

opossum for Napa Wildlife Rescue. Ophelia was injured in a

cat attack so severely that she cannot be returned to the wild, so the rescue enlisted her to help educate the public on the sweet and helpful nature of the fearsome-looking opossum.

Submitted photo

Despite their fearsome appearance, opossums are gentle and help the environment

Watching an opossum shuffle through your yard can send a shudder down your spine. With their long hairless tails, sharp teeth, and beady eyes, opossums are just, well, creepy.

But they don’t deserve the reputation we’ve given them, according to Janice Taylor, a longtime volunteer with Napa Wildlife Rescue. Taylor has been donating her time and expertise for over a decade to help save and defend these misunderstood marsupials.

Yes, that’s right. Opossums are marsupials—not related in any way to rats, although that’s often the comparison

ISABELLE SCHMALTZ

people make.

While their cute Australian cousins, like the kangaroo and koala, get all the love, opossums have been quietly benefiting the environment as nature’s “clean-up crew,” as Taylor likes to say.

Opossums eat a lot of creatures most people don’t want to come across, like cockroaches, rattlesnakes, ticks, and almost any type of roadkill (opossums are immune to most snake venom, and they do not develop Lyme disease).

Humans needn’t be afraid of opossums, she said. They’ll hiss, growl, and lunge (if threatened), but Taylor said most opossums are big fakers.

“They’re not violent,” she said. “They’re not going to chase you down.”

NAPA WILDLIFE RESCUE

Opossums are just one of a multitude of wild species served by Napa Wildlife Rescue.

In 2020, the rescue organization helped more than 15,000 injured or orphaned animals, according to Napa Wildlife Rescue President John Comisky.

Normally, the rescue center helps about 12,000 animals per year, Comisky said. The dramatic increase last year was due to helping another rescue organization that received an influx after a wildfire.

Napa Wildlife Rescue is the only organization in Napa County permitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to care for wildlife. It is illegal in California to keep any wildlife as a pet.

Taylor, who’s lived in Napa since 1984, started volunteering at Napa Wildlife about 22 years ago after reading an article in the Napa Valley Register about the work happening at the songbird clinic.

“Since I had experience hand-rearing baby parrots as a hobby, I felt I was well-suited to help out. The clinic was in a small travel trailer and had a pop-up tent where cages were placed during the days for older birds,” Taylor said. “I quickly fell in love with the work and the mission to help injured, sick, and orphaned birds in order to get them back into the wild.”

Since its inception nearly 30 years ago, Napa Wildlife’s work has mostly been conducted in backyards, garages, an RV—anywhere that was “free and available,” Comisky said.

During the past 10 years, the organization was able to operate on space leased (at no cost) from Napa County. Last year, the rescue organization finally purchased a permanent home near Cuttings Wharf thanks to a generous donor (who wishes to remain anonymous).

Many of the animals taken in by Napa Wildlife are injured due to direct or indirect human activity.

Taylor said most of these animals and birds are hit by cars, caught by dogs or cats (cats kill 1.4 to 3.4 billion birds each year in the U.S.), caught in rat traps or ingest rat poison, or captured in sticky traps.

During the spring and summer, baby birds and squirrels are often orphaned or injured by tree trimming, she said.

Submitted photo

Janice Taylor and educational ambassador opossum Ophelia.

Napa Wildlife Rescue

For questions about wildlife, or to report an injured or orphaned wild animal, contact Napa Wildlife Rescue at (707) 224-4295. The organization’s HAWK line can be reached every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. To learn more about volunteering, contact the wildlife manager at wildlifeadmin@napawildliferescue.org. To request an education event for a community group or school, email Napa Wildlife Rescue at education@napawildliferescue.org.

Sometimes, well-meaning citizens bring in a baby animal or bird who isn’t actually in need.

“Fledgling birds are often on the ground, still being fed and encouraged by their parents while learning to fly and mistaken for orphaned or injured,” Taylor said.

Napa Wildlife treats animals that have sustained fractures, lacerations, puncture wounds, neurologic injuries, head trauma, dehydration, and shock. They also treat wildlife suffering from parasites, infections and starvation.

The majority of sick or injured wildlife is rehabbed at the Wildlife rescue clinic by volunteers and a few staff. Some species require specialized care or frequent feedings and are cared for in trained volunteers’ homes. Napa Wildlife has volunteers who specialize in treating hummingbirds, quail, squirrels, rabbits, baby raccoons, baby skunks, fawns, and, of couse, opossums.

Taylor said helping a bird or animal get released back into the wild is an “incredibly rewarding experience.”

“Wildlife keeps nature in balance and has a vital role in our world,” Taylor said. “I want my grandchildren and the children for generations to come to experience the same wonder of wildlife as I am able to do.”

“EXTREMELY REWARDING,” DESPITE LOSING SLEEP

Taylor is part of the team who takes care of the opossums. She has been rehabbing baby opossums for about 11 years.

“I have always been fascinated with marsupials, and when the opportunity to rehab them became available, I jumped at the chance,” she said.

She received specialized training through WildCare in San Rafael. That first year, she helped 15 baby opossums.

By 2018, Taylor helped 107 baby opossums survive and get released back into the wild.

Baby opossums need very specialized care. They are born after only 18 days gestation and crawl as near-embryos into the mothers’ pouch, Taylor explained. The babies then attach to a teat that swells to fill their mouth. They are

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Janice Taylor and Ophelia discuss opossums with some visitors.

Submitted photo

stuck on and receive slow continuous milk, she said.

Baby opossums do not suckle like other mammals and can’t be bottle fed, Taylor said. When they are orphaned, they require a species-specific formula through a soft tube passed from their mouth into their stomach, Taylor said.

Depending on how underdeveloped they are, feedings are typically every three to four hours until they are old enough to lap out of a dish.

Most baby opossums who become orphans are found in their mother’s pouch, Taylor said. Oftentimes, the mother was hit by a car, and as many as 12 babies can be in the pouch at one time.

The babies have to be kept in an environment similar to the mom’s pouch, which requires an incubator with specific settings, Taylor said.

Most baby opossums spend about two months rehabbing at Taylor’s home before they can be released into the wild.

“Despite the sleep deprivation, I find it to be extremely rewarding to be able to save these tiny babies,” Taylor said.

While opossums have become her specialty, Taylor likes to help Napa Wildlife Rescue wherever she is needed. Sometimes, that means helping restrain a bird of prey or assisting with rabies-vector animals (she stays up-to-date on her rabies vaccinations).

“Ever since I was a small child, I have loved wildlife,” Taylor said. “I remember having great fun attempting to spot wildlife on family vacations and trying to help injured birds that were found in our yard.”

OPHELIA

Napa Wildlife Rescue typically has two active ambassador animals that make appearances at schools and public events: a red tail hawk named Maddie and Ophelia, a female Virginia opossum.

“I am Ophelia’s caregiver and love this part of my volunteer work,” Taylor said.

Ophelia was brought to Napa Wildlife Rescue after suffering a severe neck injury from a cat attack. The attack left her with permanent nerve damage, and she can no longer climb or use her paws properly.

Because of the extent of her injuries, the only options were euthanasia or to get Ophelia permitted as an animal education ambassador.

Through Napa Wildlife Rescue’s education program, Taylor and Ophelia help teach schoolchildren and inform the public about their wild neighbors, as well as what to do if they find an injured or orphaned bird or animal.

“We have wild neighbors, and we need to find ways to peacefully coexist with them,” Taylor said.

While education events were postponed during the pandemic, Taylor hopes they will be able to resume classroom visits sometime soon.

The most frequent questions Taylor receives from students are:

How many teeth do opossums have?

Answer: 50. Opossums have more teeth than any land mammal to help them bite through the bones of dead animals they scavenge and eat.

Where do they sleep?

Answer: Some use their tails and opposable thumbs to climb and sleep in trees. Some will sleep under a porch. Opossums are nocturnal.

Why do they “play dead?”

Answer: This is a defense mechanism that they have no conscious control over. It’s an involuntary neurologic response like when a human faints. An opossum will appear dead and smell dead (thanks to a smelly fluid secreted from a gland at the base of their tail). The predator is not interested in an already dead animal and gives up and leaves. The opossum then wakes up 30 minutes or up to four hours later.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Napa Wildlife Rescue is staffed almost entirely by volunteers, and extra volunteers are always welcome, Taylor said.

Many volunteers work a four-hour shift once per week, especially during the busy songbird season from April to September. Volunteers also work with mammals and raptors.

“We need volunteers for field rescue, transport, reuniting, clerical work, home rehab, and fundraising,” Taylor said.

People who don’t have time to volunteer can still do plenty on their own to help local wildlife.

Taylor advises people to keep cats indoors, put stickers on windows to prevent bird strikes, trim trees in the fall and winter, and avoid using poisons, sticky traps, and unenclosed snap traps.

It’s also wise to not feed pets outside, and to keep trash cans tightly sealed, she said. Pet food or any discarded/rotten food can attract opossums and other wildlife.

To help save orphaned opossums, Taylor said to check the pouch of mother opossums hit by cars.

“If it is safe to do so, stop and see if the opossum is still alive or if there are living babies in the pouch,” Taylor said. “If there are, pick up the mom and babies and call Napa Wildlife Rescue, so we have a chance at saving them.”