{"id":372975,"date":"2025-12-28T11:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T11:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/372975\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T11:52:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T11:52:09","slug":"rescuer-drops-to-the-ground-after-finding-someone-wedged-between-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/372975\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescuer Drops To The Ground After Finding Someone Wedged Between Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a full-time wildlife rescuer, Kim Titterington usually spends her days saving Florida\u2019s scaly residents. But last month, the founder and director of Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation (SGARR)<\/a> got an urgent call about a trapped mammal that changed everything.<\/p>\n

Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

It all started when a woman contacted Titterington to report a possum she\u2019d found wedged upside down between two trees. The woman\u2019s pleas were urgent. She\u2019d discovered the possum a day earlier while on a walk and couldn\u2019t figure out how to help him.<\/p>\n

When the caller returned 24 hours later, the possum was still stuck head-down between the trees, and he was visibly weaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a pile of fur from where he was struggling for some time,\u201d Titterington told The Dodo.<\/p>\n

Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

Titterington rushed to the scene and soon found the poor little guy stuck just as the woman had described. Except this time, he wasn\u2019t as active.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a warm day, and the sun was directly on him,\u201d Titterington said. \u201cI was worried we may be too late to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

It seemed as though the possum had slipped while attempting to climb one of the trees, but it was impossible to know exactly how he ended up there. The only thing Titterington knew for sure was that he\u2019d been there for far too long and was quickly running out of steam.<\/p>\n

Despite the urgency, Titterington had to work methodically to rescue the poor guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge was making sure I didn’t cause him more pain or harm while dislodging him from between the trees,\u201d Titterington said.<\/p>\n

Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

Titterington carefully grabbed hold of the possum\u2019s head with one hand and his rear end with the other. Slowly, she inched the snarling possum upwards until the gap was finally wide enough to pull him through.<\/p>\n

You can watch that moment here:<\/p>\n

Both Titterington and the possum, whom she named Gilbert, were breathless from the whole ordeal. The rescuer was beyond relieved to have freed Gilbert, while the poor guy remained in shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was lethargic and disoriented from being upside down for well over 24 hours,\u201d Titterington said.<\/p>\n

Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

Titterington drove Gilbert to SGARR\u2019s headquarters and immediately began treating him for severe dehydration. She also gave him pain medication to help make him more comfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was still and quiet for the first three days, then he began to move and eat more and more each day,\u201d Titterington said.<\/p>\n

Gilbert slowly regained his mobility that week, but he still had a limp from his shoulder, which had lost circulation while stuck. But thanks to Titterington\u2019s care, Gilbert started to improve each day. And by his third week at SGARR, the resilient boy appeared ready to return home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point where he was climbing on top of his den and moving around the pen without a limp or any type of mobility issue, I knew it was time to go,\u201d Titterington said.<\/p>\n

Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

On his release day, Titterington drove Gilbert to a lush area near where he was found. She was excited to see his reaction to being back in his natural habitat. But when the cage opened, it seemed Gilbert was more thrilled than anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cGilbert was ready to go, and once his feet hit the ground, he was gone!\u201d Titterington said. \u201c[He] never even looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see footage from Gilbert\u2019s release here:<\/p>\n

The possum sprinted back home, while his proud rescuer and rehabilitator admired from a distance.<\/p>\n

Titterington doesn\u2019t always get to save mammals, but that makes rare cases like Gilbert\u2019s all the more gratifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great feeling,\u201d Titterington said.<\/p>\n

To help animals like Gilbert get the care they need, you can donate to Swamp Girl Adventures Reptile Rehabilitation here<\/a>.\"Dog<\/a>Dog Visits Building Concierge Every Day Then Surprises Her With A Christmas Gift\u201cHe was so excited \u2026\u201d \ud83e\udd79<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a full-time wildlife rescuer, Kim Titterington usually spends her days saving Florida\u2019s scaly residents. But last month,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[6587,8685,49,48,6586,66,2225,6584,323,20856],"class_list":{"0":"post-372975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-encounters","9":"tag-ashley-ortiz","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-daily-dodo","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-standard","15":"tag-the-dodo","16":"tag-wildlife","17":"tag-wildlife-rescue"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}