'It's the most rewarding thing.' This Mississippi woman loves saving baby 'possums

She's known as the Opossum Queen and she cares for hundreds of injured and orphaned opossums each year.

With spring being the time opossums raise their young, she is all but overwhelmed right now.

"Between the rescue and our satellite rescuers, we have more than 300 babies," said Missy Dubuisson, founder and director of nonprofit Wild at Heart Rescue in Vancleave. "It's insane.

"Opossums, because so many come in at the same time, that's why we're so overloaded. We just get full of these precious little babies. I think we're the biggest opossum rescue there is."

So, where do all these opossums come from? In spring, the majority are orphans.

Dubuisson explained that when female opossums are killed by vehicles, their babies, which are carried in a pouch in the early stages of growth, may survive. She said Good Samaritans who know this will stop to check road-killed opossums for surviving young and take them to a wildlife rehabilitator.

"We call them pouch pickers," Dubuisson said.

And pouch-picking produces a plethora of pink-tailed opossums.

"They usually have seven to 11 in each pouch," Dubuisson said. "If we checked four to five pouches each day and each has seven to 11 babies, that's 28 to 55."

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A calling to save animals

Dubuisson said her love of caring for animals began as a child. She said she was born with a spinal deformity and it was questionable she would ever walk. However, an experimental surgery allowed her to.

Even though she was able to walk, she was unable to do things that were physically demanding like other children such as sports. So she turned to nature and developed a passion for caring for young injured or orphaned wildlife she would find near her home.

She discovered she had a talent for providing care that would allow animals to be returned to the wild and 35 years ago she became a permitted wildlife rehabilitator.

"I've done this my whole life," Dubuisson said. "I definitely feel it's a God-given calling. It's just truly within me."

Dubuisson has worked with a long list of wildlife, but after her first experience with caring for opossums many years ago, she was hooked.

"I just fell in love with it," Dubuisson said. "These babies wouldn't make it without me. I just love them."

Not only are baby opossums precious in Dubuisson's eyes, she said they are unique animals. They live in their mother's pouch until old enough to ride on her back. They have fingerprints on their opposable thumbs.

They have prehensile tails that assist in climbing. She said they are also immune to and kill venomous snakes as well as consume thousands of ticks while grooming.

"They're just cool," Dubuisson said. "I'm telling you, they're just cool."

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A saving grace for opossums

Her passion for opossums is clear to those around her. Joshua Holland, who works with Dubuisson, sees it firsthand.

"Missy knows opossums like the back of her hand," Holland said. "She has an understanding of them.

"A lot of people see opossums as misunderstood, and that's how she sees them. She has an unmeasurable, indescribable love for that species — and unmatched, to be honest. I would say Missy is a saving grace when it comes to the opossum species."

Laura Mioton has worked with Dubuisson for more than two decades.

"I will never truly understand her fascination with opossums, but I'm the same way with foxes and bobcats," Mioton said. "She's amazing with them.

"She can do so much more with opossums than anyone I've ever seen. She really gets them. They respond to her really well."

Although it's rewarding work, it isn't easy. Dubuisson said she's feeding animals, checking on them and cleaning 10-10? hours a day.

With that many mouths to feed until ready to be returned to the wild, her calling isn't a cheap one, either.

The rescue is going through 70 cans of cat food, 10 large containers of yogurt, 60 pounds of dry cat food, and 4 gallons of formula each day.

"The formula is about $116 for a 5-pound bag," Dubuisson said. "We go through a bag every day to two days."

However, that's just part of being the Opossum Queen.

"It's exhausting and it's costly, but it's worth it," Dubuisson said. "There's nothing like it. It's the most rewarding thing."

Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or [email protected]. Follow Clarion Ledger Outdoors on Facebook and @BrianBroom on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Opossum Queen rescues hundreds of baby opossums in Mississippi