Danbury Woman Rescues 10 Baby Possums After Momma Possum Struck By Car

A local woman's deep passion for animals found her in a very unique situation on Friday morning, which, for the most part, resulted in a joyous outcome.

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Lora Boynton of Danbury works as a caregiver for the dogs that are currently housed in the kennel at Danbury Animal Control over on Plumtrees Rd. She also lends a helping hand when the opportunity arises for those same dogs to be adopted into loving homes.

As Lora was headed into work Friday morning (June 4), much like any other morning, she kept a keen eye on the road for any animals in the roadway that may need help or could potentially cause an obstruction. Well, it just so happens that this time, she came upon a possum that had been stuck, and unfortunately didn't make it. Lora, knowing that marsupials have pouches often containing babies, checked the situation out and lo and be hold, her instinct was correct.

"When I went to move this possum off the road, I saw all these little tails moving inside her belly, said Boynton. "So that's what made me throw her in a box and take her to the pound with me."

Once she arrived to Danbury Animal Control with the mother and her babies still nestled inside the pouch, Lora and Officer Simone knew to contact Peter over at Wildlife in Crisis in Weston, a well-known wildlife rehabilitation organization that works to treat animals before they can be returned to their natural habitat. With consultation from Peter, Lora was able to safely remove a total of 10 baby possums, often referred to as joeys much like their kangaroo cousins, from the mother's pouch, wrapping them in warm towels before taking them over to Wildlife in Crisis.

When I asked Lora about the current condition of the litter, she said "Oh, they're good. They're moving around and active, and they're very young, but they all were healthy and they were all still attached to mom, so they're doing good ... and someone told me they could feed off of her even after she passes for up to 12 or 24 hours."

So now, with the 10 joeys safe, Wildlife in Crisis will be able to provide them with the care they need to eventually return to their habitat, which Lora says is actually very good for our environment. During our chat, she said "Baby possums are fabulous for our environment - they eat ticks, they don't carry rabies. They'll thousands and thousands of ticks ... And sometimes people are like 'Oh possums are ugly' and they don't care what they do [for the environment] but they're actually amazing animals. I would love to have a bunch of them living in my yard!"

Our conversation finished with Lora explaining to me a little more about the Wildlife in Crisis organization and what they mean to our community. "They do so much when we find injured animals, baby animals, any kind of wildlife. They are awesome at rehabbing them and getting them back out into the wild, yet people don't know they're there and they can really use donations. Everything they do is run by those donations and to me, that's the most important thing because we wouldn't be able to save 10 baby possums if it weren't for places like Wildlife in Crisis."

Many thanks and congratulations go out to Lora, Danbury Animal Control, and of course, Wildlife in Crisis for being heroes of the day in rescuing those adorable baby possums. Also, a special thank you to Lora for me personally for the education on possums and what they provide to the environment. Now, if I ever see an injured possum in the road, I'll know to be on the lookout for that pouch full of joeys. We need them to keep those nasty ticks away.

Here's a look at Lora's photos from her amazing rescue: