The Wildlife Center is sad to announce the death of Bert, an education Virginia Opossum, on March 11, 2015. Bert was nearly four years old, which is quite old for an opossum; over the past few months, the veterinary staff have noted arthritic changes in Bert. During the past two weeks, Bert’s health and ability to walk were quickly deteriorating; last week, the staff made the difficult and sad decision to humanely euthanize Bert.
Bert is preceded in death by his brother Ernie. Both opossums were admitted to the Wildlife Center in the fall of 2011; their rescuer had found them as orphans and kept them as pets. By the time Bert and Ernie were admitted, both opossums were friendly toward humans and were not able to be released. Bert and Ernie quickly joined the outreach family and began their careers as education opossums.
During his education career at the Wildlife Center, Bert appeared in 37 programs and “met” more than 3,380 people, both at the Center and throughout the state of Virginia. Like many other education opossums, Bert loved snacks – particularly bananas. Occasionally, the outreach team would offer snacks to Bert during programs, so that he could demonstrate how opossums often use their hands to grasp food.
Both Bert and Ernie became well-known “artists” in their time at the Wildlife Center. One of their creations was auctioned at the Center’s annual benefit and gala, which in turn supported all of the animals at the Wildlife Center. Bert and Ernie lived together throughout their time at the Wildlife Center, and while each opossum had a “house” in their enclosure, they could often be found curled up together.
 Bert (R) 4.JPG)
Thanks for your service, Bert.