Homer was born as an outlaw.
The seven-month-old opossum is among the most recent arrivals at the Oregon Zoo. His trip to Portland included three states and included a long hunt for opossums that were loose.
The journey began in Washington state in which his mother sneaked into a container for shipping en the direction of Alaska. Opossums are thought to be an invasive species in the state and are potentially harmful to wildlife that live thereand the state is required to remove all opossums that are discovered.
When authorities discovered the mother of his son, known as Grubby, in the roads of Homer, Alaska, about 4 hours to the south of Anchorage Officials with the Alaskan state Department of Fish and Game had to wait for two years to find her. The hunt was a huge success and attracted the attention of many and even sparked to create the trending hashtag “#FreeGrubby.”.
Then, authorities caught her and took the opossum to a wildlife sanctuary in Anchorage However, it wasn’t the end of the story.
“Baby Opossums began showing up on the grounds of Homer City Hall,” stated Kate Gilmore, an animal curator at the Oregon Zoo.
In those two months running, Grubby had a litter of baby animals, called joeys. Fish and game officials managed to capture five of the Joeys, and all of them were taken to various animal zoos.
Homer is named after the city where he was born and ended up in Portland. Gilmore stated that Homer can dispel any some of the misconceptions people be prone to about opossums. They are the only marsupial found in North America.
“When you hear about an opossum or spot one, it’s usually in the middle of the road and is considered roadskill” Gilmore said. “They are given the image of being garbage eaters, but that’s not the case.”
Homer is the most recent addition to the Oregon Zoo’s ambassador animals program. The animals are frequently present on the zoo’s outdoor summer stage, where visitors can be nearer to them as compared to the normal exhibits and observe their behavior.
“It’s an excellent method to keep guests engaged, and more than simply watching the animal’s environment from the outdoors,” Gilmore said.
In the beginning, Homer must be trained to get used to the noisy lively environment of an animal park. He’s never been in a stroller or heard screaming children therefore the zoo will have to determine how Homer will react to these new experiences, Gilmore said.
Gilmore stated that she is hoping Homer will change the way people think about the kind of animals to see in the zoo.
“Having one in this area that we could show people will help them appreciate an important part of our local ecosystem,” she said. “A majority of people sort overlook what’s happening in the area.”
This story has been republished by the original source at Oregon Public Broadcasting with permission.
