Precious Opossum Gets a Set of Wheels!
Kewpie, an opossum with limited mobility, can now use a custom built wheelchair to move around more easily.
With their furry black and white stripes and bushy tails, skunks are cuter than we give them credit for. They are also friendly and loyal and make surprisingly good companions. Would you adopt and raise one? Kentucky resident, Tonya Poindexter did. She took in Pepe, a baby skunk too small to open his little eyes and ears, when she discovered it all alone and in need of care.
Pepe grew into an active and playful skunk pup and became Poindexter’s best friend. He also became the inspiration for Poindexter’s Wilderness Trail Wildlife Center.
At the Center, Poindexter gives hundreds of sick or abandoned wildlife creatures new leases on life. Poindexter takes them in, treats them, and then, once rehabilitated, helps them readjust to their homes in the wild. She also educates people about caring for the wilderness around them.
According to WTVQ, Poindexter saved 288 animals in one year alone!
The Center’s current mascot is an opossum named Kewpie. And thanks to Walkin’ Pets, Kewpie has just received a set of wheels.
Rescuing Kewpie
People reports, Kewpie made his way to the center in his infancy, when he could still fit easily inside Poindexter’s hand. Poindexter had rescued him from a cat who’d chased him up a tree.
But, shortly after Poindexter brought the shaking infant marsupial into her Center and nursed him back to health, Kewpie started to limp again.
Testing revealed that Kewpie had a rare genetic disorder similar to dwarfism. Lex 18 adds that the opossum baby also had scoliosis and arthritis.
At this point, Kewpie had already reached opossum old age at a year and a half old.
Kewpie receives new wheels
New Hampshire based Walkin’ Pets took up Kewpie’s case. This company designs custom made wheelchairs for animals with limited mobility.
This was Walkin’ Pets first time designing a wheelchair for an opossum, who is lower to the ground than other pets they’d fitted with mobility devices previously.
This wasn’t Waklin’ Pet’s first time volunteering for the Wildlife Center though. A few years back they built a custom wheelchair for a lame fawn that Poindexter rescued.
A few weeks later, Kewpie’s wheels arrived. It didn’t take long for the curious opossum to begin roaming the center, showing off his wheelchair.
Kewpie is getting used to his wheelchair and is starting to hobble around more confidently. He’s also become the ambassador for the Center.
According to Poindexter, “Kewpie is still learning how his new wheels work for him," Poindexter said in the release. "He seems to be figuring out it's easier than dragging himself across the floor, and he's a 'Mr. Independent' so holding him and carrying him is alright to him a little, but he likes to go on his own adventures."
Poindexter’s refusal to give up on her animals, and her devotion to providing them with the best that life has to offer is an inspiration. It shows that when it comes to caring for nature, nothing is “im-possum-able.”
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