{"id":377266,"date":"2026-04-01T23:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377266\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T23:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:15:10","slug":"rescuer-assumes-they-saved-a-sick-opossum-then-the-truth-surprises-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377266\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescuer Assumes They Saved A Sick ‘Opossum’ \u2014 Then The Truth Surprises Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet Possum: a sweet rescue animal who isn\u2019t actually an opossum at all.<\/p>\n

Recently, a Good Samaritan in Pennsylvania found Possum struggling to survive. The poor wild girl was emaciated, dehydrated and suffering from severe hair loss. Given the animal\u2019s long, hairless tail and pointed face, the Good Samaritan assumed that Possum was, well, a very sick opossum<\/a>. They scooped her up and brought her to rescuers at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education<\/a> right away.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, rescuers quickly realized there was a misunderstanding. This animal wasn\u2019t an opossum \u2014 she was a raccoon.<\/p>\n

\"sickAark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center<\/p>\n

Given that raccoons are a rabies vector species in Pennsylvania and require specialized care, rescuers at the Schuylkill Center transferred Possum to experts at Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Safe at Aark, Possum began fluid therapy and eventually received treatment for her mange and skin infections. Weeks went by, and Possum\u2019s appetite improved. Her energy levels increased, and her skin began to heal. With renewed energy, Possum began looking and acting like a raccoon again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs she\u2019s gained strength, we\u2019ve started to see her natural raccoon behaviors come through,\u201d Aark clinic director Amanda Leyden told The Dodo. \u201cShe\u2019s more alert, curious about her surroundings, and much more engaged during feeding and care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rescuers at Aark enjoyed watching Possum come out of her shell and learning more about her personality.<\/p>\n

\"rescueAark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike many raccoons, she keeps her enclosure remarkably tidy and rarely makes a mess,\u201d Leyden said. \u201cWe like to call patients like her \u2018polite.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Leyden, Possum still has a way to go before she makes a full recovery. However, rescuers are hopeful that she will eventually be ready to return to her home in the wild. Until then, she\u2019s safe with experts who have her best interests at heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cCases like Possum\u2019s are emotionally challenging, especially in the beginning when the outcome is uncertain,\u201d Leysen said. \u201cSeeing her improve reminds our team why we do this work. Watching an animal come back from the brink and regain strength is something that never gets old.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help other animals like Possum, you can donate to the Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center<\/a>.\u00a0\"Rescuers<\/a>Rescuers Take In Two Tiny Opossums \u2014 Then Realize They\u2019re Both Incredibly Rare\u201c[They] found their pot of gold \u2026\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meet Possum: a sweet rescue animal who isn\u2019t actually an opossum at all. Recently, a Good Samaritan in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[5822,1285,246,61,60,17170,168990,82,1284,1282,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-377266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-encounters","9":"tag-daily-dodo","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-maeve-dunigan","14":"tag-rescue-raccoon","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-standard","17":"tag-the-dodo","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}