Six orphaned Virginia opossums returned to the wild on Oct. 3 after several months of rehabilitation at Twin Harbors Wildlife Center in Montesano, Washington. Their mother had been struck and killed by a vehicle while the babies were still attached to her, the Montesano Police Department said. Six of the offspring survived.
Montesano police said Officer O’Connor contacted Twin Harbors after the collision and that the center took in the survivors. The officer later joined center representatives for the release. KIRO 7 reported the event on Oct. 16, confirmed the Oct. 3 release date and linked to the police post for the rescue account. Neither the police post nor KIRO described a treatment plan, the exact release site or follow-up monitoring, so those details are not added here.
Twin Harbors says it serves Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. Its team includes one veterinarian who is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, volunteers, partners, staff from Grays Harbor Veterinary Services and the communities it serves. The center describes its mission as providing humane care for orphaned, ill, injured and displaced wildlife, with the goal of returning recovered animals to the wild.
The center says it aims to treat 1,500 wildlife patients each year among more than 150 species in those counties. Its examples span eagles, owls, gulls, crows and robins, along with bats, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, river otters and opossums. The number is a stated annual goal, not a claim that the center treated exactly that many patients in a particular year.
Twin Harbors describes rehabilitation as care and treatment that prepares injured, orphaned or sick wildlife to return to their natural habitat as functional members of their species. The work combines veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, animal behavior, biology and natural sciences. The center says each species presents unique challenges, so its general description does not tell readers what treatment any one patient received.
Some patients may need only a few days of care, while orphaned babies and critically ill or injured animals may need weeks or months. The center says it aims to release wildlife as soon as possible for the animals’ safety and well-being. Its general release guidance also says weather, season and time of day can matter, and that young animals are released around the time they would naturally leave parental care. Those are the center’s broad practices, not details it has shared about the six opossums’ care or Oct. 3 release plan.
Education is another part of Twin Harbors’ stated rehabilitation work. The center says its program reaches people of all ages, helps them understand wildlife and habitat, encourages responsible actions and aims to develop future wildlife stewards. It describes education as work that can help wildlife beyond direct rehabilitation. The organization does not say that an education program was part of this particular release; it presents it as a separate, ongoing part of its mission.
The center publishes an average cost for one week of basic rehabilitation care by animal group: $35 for a bird, $55 for a baby mammal and $79 for a raptor. Twin Harbors says it relies heavily on individual donors to provide necessary care. The $55 figure is the center’s general average for baby mammals, not a case-specific bill or estimate for these six opossums. The center also lists volunteer opportunities in animal care, fundraising, education, outreach and transport.
Twin Harbors asks landowners to contact the center about becoming release sites for rehabilitated patients. It suggests businesses place donation cans to raise funds and spread the word about its work, and it accepts requested food and goods that directly benefit wildlife patients. These are general ways the organization says people can support rehabilitation. Its public materials do not identify which, if any, volunteers, donors or release-site partners participated in the opossums’ recovery or release.
KIRO reported Twin Harbors’ account that caring for orphaned and injured opossums is a frequent task for the center, which also rehabilitates squirrels and birds. The station also relayed the center’s note that opossums help control insect populations and other pests, including rats and mice. That is general context about the species, not a measured result of this release. The reporting supports a specific story of six animals receiving care and returning to the wild, without claiming a broader restoration outcome.
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