By Jamisyn Maes | Wildlife Education Intern
One of our latest projects at the Piedmont Wildlife Center has been to install a cover over our opossum enclosure. The goal of this project is to reduce stress, aggressive behaviors, and preserve good health for our opossum, Peaches. Increased amounts of chronic stress are a leading cause of mortality for opossums in captive settings. High levels of stress can impact immune system function, making individuals more susceptible to diseases and health issues. Additionally, stress in a captive setting can lead to an increase in aggressive behaviors when handling.
This project is headed by one of the Wildlife Education interns and has been hand-designed and installed after studying the behaviors of Peaches to assess her needs. The cover blocks Peaches' view of people moving around the trailer, allowing her to engage in her natural behaviors throughout the day without distraction or added stress. When covers are drawn, Peaches can be found running, grooming, or napping.
This project was made possible thanks to donations from our community. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to build new materials for the enclosure and purchase new cameras to keep an eye on our opossum and monitor her behaviors behind the cover. Future efforts will be put towards a more permanent enclosure cover setup and continued enrichment.
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