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Thursday, August 8, 2013

Hit and run survivors...

The post about the slaying (accidental?) of a mother of nine can be read here. I went out to Wildcare recently to check on how the surviving baby opposums are doing. You'll remember that there were originally nine babies, one was dead on the street and one was dead on arrival at Wildcare. Well now there are only four survivors. One died soon after arrival and then two more expired. They were very small and very vulnerable.

However, according to the staff there the four remaining seem to be doing well. I have only a few photos...and they aren't good. I took the babies there on July 12th, so they've been there around 3 weeks.

This baby was curious about the camera.
 You can see the towel hanging down behind the baby. It serves as a surrogate for the pouch they would have if their mom was alive. The other 3 were sleeping and this one was taking a stroll. They are self feeding now so the rather difficult process of hand feeding is finished. They are still very small and will not be able to be released for several more weeks. I hope to visit them again before they leave.

Moving away...always a good idea.
You can get some idea of their tininess in this photo of the baby moving away from me. I hope, for their sake, that once they are released they never see a human or anything made by a human again in their whole lives. It is almost axiomatic that nothing good for the opossum would come from that.

I gave a donation to Wildcare to help with their expenses. There's no amount of money though that can pay for the having of a place like Wildcare where our wild neighbors have a refuge from human destructiveness. Wildcare, Heartland, Mindy's Memory, Serenity Springs...these are all places where the free (wild) animals or the not-free (domestic) animals have a chance to be safe and protected and respected and cared for. These places are orphanages and hospitals and rehab-facilities and nursing homes and day-cares and families all rolled into one.

Give them every cent you can, give them as much time as you can...they truly are the best we can be...for Earthlings who aren't human.

These places, and places like them, represent one of the few positives about humans insofar as humans being desirable neighbors that I know of. Mostly, if you are an Earthling who happens to not be a human, the human Earthlings are bearers of suffering and misery and death. It is a sad commentary on ourselves that for all our fellow Earthlings we are, mostly, monsters. And not fun monsters...we're monsters of the genre of monsters like the one in the original Alien movie. Scary as hell and even more destructive.

If you want to resign from the ranks of the monsters...go vegan...that's the only way to do it. Otherwise you're the enemy...an ugly and vicious enemy...to our fellow Earthlings. Look at that baby in the picture. She (or he) has just as much right to enjoy this beautiful Earth as you or I do. We have no right to interfere in that enjoyment.

Going vegan and supporting your local sanctuaries and rescues...it's a start.

6 comments:

Have Gone Vegan said...

Well said! Donate money, donate time -- preferably both -- but do something. And, be part of the solution by going vegan.

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting HGV. Exactly so, help repair and cease doing more damage. :-)

Bea Elliott said...

Oh my! We really are talking small! I knew how small even from the first photo, as I recognized the familiar one-inch wire fencing. That's a teeny-tiny baby! Those big eyes, and soft pink nose! Oh how absolutely perfect this one fellow is! I'm so glad the other three are doing well too. It takes an incredible amount of dedication, knowledge, and funding to keep alive such fragile beings. Wildcare did an amazing job taking over from your caring hands!

Of course we know of all the good works at Heartland as they continue with the urgent needs of bunnies... And Mindy's Memory would be where I'd want to go if I were a primate in need of shelter and love. The story PLEASE REMEMBER ME, about the tragic events of Miracle and her pups repeats the "Alien" theme in your post. We certainly are most often, the most villainous monsters imaginable. And yet there are amazing, life-loving humans too.

Amazing, life-loving humans who would stop on the road and tend to a dead mother's children. Thank you. <3

Christina said...

It is good to see these babies get a chance. I wish them the best and a good life away from danger.

Anonymous said...

It is so sad about the baby opossums who died but I am so happy to hear that four are still alive and progressing well. You are so right these creatures have as much right to their lives as we humans. Its so heart warming to hear that in this callous seemingly uncaring world dominated by man that at least some humans care. I hope the babies continue to do well.

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Bea, Christina and Cinnabar50.

Bea: Wildcare is phenomenal, When I visit, I'm proud to be identified by the wildcare folks as "on of our oldest volunteers" and they're not referencing my age (at least I don't think they are). They are an amazing resource, an oasis of compassion and care in a desert of harm and indifference. They're great...they meant the difference between life and death for those babies.

Christina: Thank you for your good wishes for them, I second them.

Cinnabar50: The babies need all the good vibrations they can get, thank you.