We are excited to announce that we are the home of a new Opossum, Ophelia!

As thrilled as we are to welcome Ophelia, we are sad to say that Dottie has passed and is no longer at the Museum. Dottie was a beloved member of the Discovery Place Nature family for almost four years. We made the difficult decision to put her to sleep based on a veterinary visit that determined her quality of life was diminishing due to complications of old age and probable cancer.

Where did Ophelia come from?

Ophelia was found with the rest of her litter on a mother who had been hit by a car. She was rehabilitated by Lauren, a NC licensed rehabilitator who rehabs many opossums for release every year. After intensive rehabilitation all of her siblings were great candidates for release but Ophelia did not display the defensive behaviors she needed to survive and would likely have been prey for another species if released. In fact, when Lauren tried to set them free Ophelia climbed right back up on Lauren's brother!

Ophelia is so cute! Can I have a pet opossum?

While we love having Ophelia as part of our Museum family, Opossums are an important part of our ecosystem and require specialized care and diets that are oftentimes difficult for an everyday pet owner to satisfy. They typically have a very short lifespan (only about 2-3 years) and can have a variety of disorders that can't be treated effectively by a standard veterinarian. For this reason it is best to leave them in the wild and instead visit ambassador opossums rather than try to keep one as a pet.