The Wildlife Center is sad to announce the death of Pogo, an education Virginia Opossum, on October 24, 2016.
Pogo turned three years old in the spring of 2016, three years of age is generally considered “geriatric” by opossum standards. In May 2016, the staff noted that Pogo was have more trouble getting around his enclosure and did not like to be picked up and handled anymore. An examination confirmed arthritis, and the outreach staff decided to retire Pogo to keep him comfortable.
During the past few months, Pogo’s arthritis advanced, and at the end of October, the staff noticed a marked difference in behavior. On Monday October 24, the staff made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize Pogo because his quality of life had declined. The staff said their final good-byes in the afternoon before Pogo was peacefully euthanized.
Pogo was well-loved by staff, volunteers, Center supporters, and his many special sponsors. Pogo’s story was similar to that of many of our baby opossum patients – in the spring of 2013, Pogo’s mother was hit and killed by a car while he was an infant still living in his mother’s pouch. Pogo survived, but was likely too young to survive on his own and was found and rescued by humans.
This is where Pogo’s story sadly took a turn from the story of most rescued opossums; his rescuers kept him as a pet, rather than getting him to a wildlife rehabilitator for proper care. They fed Pogo inappropriate foods, and he developed metabolic bone disease from poor nutrition. He was kept as a pet for a year before his caregivers decided they could no longer keep him. He was brought to the Wildlife Center in May 2014 and was deemed non-releasable due to his metabolic bone disease and friendly disposition.
Because he was so tame, the Center staff determined Pogo (then patient #14-0471) would be a wonderful education ambassador. He was given the name Pogo in honor of a well-known comic strip that was created in the 1940’s — the central character, "Pogo Possum", played an important role in the very first Earth Day in 1970.
Pogo lived up to the expectations of his namesake; as an ambassador for more than two years, he helped us to teach more than 5,400 people about opossums, wildlife conservation, and environmental stewardship. Pogo participated in programs about many wildlife-related topics, including nocturnal animal adaptations and the dangers of litter. Though Pogo couldn’t live the life of a wild opossum, he undoubtedly improved the lives of countless wild animals, by helping children and adults better understand the wildlife that lives in their own backyards.
We will greatly miss Pogo, but we’re thankful for his years of service as an ambassador for his species.