61-year-old retired firefighter John Gregson, who lives in Douglas, Massachusetts, recently was driving to the dentist and saw what he thought was roadkill in the middle of the road. As a longtime animal lover and animal rescuer—he says that when he was a firefighter in North Providence that he "pulled more animals from fires than" he did people—he stopped to investigate and saw that the animal in the road was an opossum that had been hit and killed by a car. Upon closer inspection, he saw that mama opossum's pouch was moving, so he reached in and rescued six baby opossums. He brought them home, cleaned them up, kept them warm, and then searched around to figure out who to call for help.
He found Ashley Makridakis, a state-licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator with Fresh Start Wildlife Rehabilitation in Subury, MA. She's dealt with many opposums and was happy to take in these new babies. They will remain at Fresh Start Wildlife for a few months until they can be released into the wild.
To see John, Ashley, and the babies, click through to WJAR for a video.
