A woman was returning home to a suburb of Melbourne when she noticed an animal lying on the side of the road. It was a possum with a baby on its back.
While driving home to a Melbourne suburb, a woman noticed a small animal lying near the roadway. When she got out of the car, she immediately saw a brushtail possum (also known as a koozoo). The animal was motionless and appeared seriously injured, possibly even dead. It had likely been hit by a car.
The woman also noticed something moving on her back. It was a small, red-haired cub. It wasn't injured by the car impact, but it still needed help.
The woman was deeply moved and decided to save the baby. She took a bag from the trunk and carefully placed the body of the mother and baby in it. Then she headed to the nearest veterinary clinic, which turned out to be Lort Smith Animal Hospital.
There, the baby possum was examined and found to be completely healthy and uninjured. At the time of the collision, it was sitting on its mother's back. She rescued it. The baby would have suffered the same fate as its mother, had it been in a pouch in its lower abdomen. The rescued animal turned out to be a girl, named Mavis.
Rai, a nurse at the clinic, explains that the cub was extremely frightened and couldn't understand why his mother wasn't moving. He had clung tightly to her fur, and it was difficult to free him. After the nurse managed to remove the cub from his mother, he was placed in a warm bag for added comfort. The animal was then transferred to the local private wildlife sanctuary, Amaroo Wildlife Shelter, founded by Rai. This sanctuary focuses on the rehabilitation of Australian marsupials.
At the shelter, Mavis is being fed and feels almost at home. She's already grown a bit, and her fur is gradually turning gray, like an adult's.
The little one loves to sit on the stuffed animal they used to try to reunite her with. Mavis will stay at the shelter for another six months, then she will be released into the wild.
