Early morning and in a hurry to work, my husband encounters a dazed possum in the middle of the road. It can still walk awkwardly, but very slowly, and is at obvious risk of becoming road kill. What do you do? (I guess it depends on how soft hearted you are.)
Actually, we did know what to do. In the past we’ve found injured birds, so I did what we did at those occasions, I called the outstanding WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER located in Newark and brought the injured possum over in a box. (We gently coaxed him -actually ‘her’ as it turned out- into a box without needing to touch; aware of rabies if nothing else. Gathered fact: it appears that possums, unlike foxes and skunks, are extremely resistant to rabies, and are rarely carriers.)
At the Center, my possum got the attention of the manager and registered vet technician, David Anderson. Most likely, my possum had been hit by a car, but they can also ingest rodenticide or snail poison and get sick from that. ‘Possey’ weighed in at 5 pounds, had a fractured back femur, skin abrasions, a little blood around the nose, a little noisy breathing, and dehydration. Even so, she was alert and tried to walk. In the box she wanted to burrow into the towel and hide. David, got the hydration taken care of by giving water in a syringe. Next, he gave some pain medication and settled her into a box with a heating lamp. Possey will have to rely on some pro bono vet work (the center gets help from a Dr. Freeman), or maybe they can splint the leg at the Center. Hopefully there is no internal damage. I can call back and see if she makes it. Possey is # 251.
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Interesting fact, possums have the most teeth (52) of any mammal, but mostly show them off in a deterrent purpose. They can drool and act rabid, also to scare off whatever threatens them. They can do the ‘play possum’ thing, when everything else fails.(O)possums seem like clever little things, except they have bad vision, why we often see them by the roadside.
I got more info on the Center while David feed some ravenous pigeon babies with a syringe.
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The Rehabilitation Center is part of the Ohlone Humane Society (http://www.ohlonehumanesociety.org/), their address is 37175 in Newark. Their hours are 9 am to 5 pm and phone number 797-9449. As far as the location, you have to know about it, to find it. You turn onto Hickory from Thornton. (Hickory is the road the closest to the Don Edwards Refuge.) It goes between some businesses, you have to drive through the last parking lot, and then you will see their sign. Turn onto the dirt road that ends up at their building, next to the railroad tracks. The rehab has been there for 14 years. The building used to be an animal shelter, then it stood empty for a while, before getting its current use. They have added outside areas on the side since moving in.
In Alameda County there is only the Newark location and the Sulphur Creek Nature Center in Hayward, that can take on injured wildlife. There is nothing of the kind in Pleasanton or Livermore, so they bring their animals over here. Sulphur Creek has an educational part with a Wildlife Discovery Center nature classes, which the Newark Center doesn’t have. The Newark Center has a yearly open house in October when Sulphur Creek volunteers come over to help and show off some animals. There is a Silicon Valley Wildlife Center with rehab in San Jose, and there is a Marin Mammal Center in the Marin headlands, open for visits, to take care of seals, sea lions and otters.
The Newark Center is smaller than the others, but takes care of some 700 patients in a year. Right now, the Newark Center is housing: 10 skunks (and expecting 5 more), 6 raccoons, 6 possums (including ‘Possey’), 4 songbirds, 5 crows, 2 big horn owls, 2 barn owls, 1 red shouldered hawk, 2 kestrels, 1 killdeer, 5 black phoebes, 1 cliff swallow, 2 house finches, 2 robins, 1 mocking bird, 1 cowbird, 3 scrubjays, 3 pigeons. There is one resident animal, a blind pigeon who has been here for 5 years. There have been more exotic clients, like a bobcat and a harbor seal, but they get taken over of by the bigger centers. Animals that can't be released become educational animals at Sulphur Creek. Rehabilitated mammals have to be released within 3 miles of where it was picked up. David said they have noticed a decline this year in the number of injured animals and they do not know why that is. Sulphur Creek has noted it too. Are there fewer animals overall? Are they being pushed out by development? Not clear.
The Ohlone Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Center is totally dependent on donations -they are a 501(c)(3)- and a band of volunteers, some 40 of them, who come in for 3 hour shifts. After taking a course at the Center, kids, 16 and up, can start helping with the animals. David picks up good, but rejected, vegetables, fruits and berries from Safeway to help feed the animals and stretch the budget.
If you did not know about this Newark treasure before, now you know where to turn when you encounter an injured wild animal. I hope you also can see this very well kept center as a cause worthy of a donation. The Newark Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is definitely something our city can be proud of and should support. Why not check them out for yourself in October (date TBD) at their Open House?
