Injured Hilton Head opossum examined by wildlife officials, vets. What they found
Wildlife officials have found no proof that an opossum found injured by the side of a Hilton Head Island road was attacked by club-wielding golfers, S.C. Department of Natural Resources spokesperson David Lucas told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette newspapers.
A formal statement from the agency was released Wednesday morning.
The revelation comes after several days of online fury following a Wildlife Rehab Center in Greenville’s post on social media about the injured animal and allegations of an attack by golfers at an unidentified Hilton Head golf course.
Although the evidence was lacking, as reported Monday by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, the powerful image of affluent Hilton Head golfers attacking the young animal echoed far and wide on television news and national outlet CNN.
“Our Beaufort County officers have conducted an extensive investigation into this incident but have not been able to confirm the allegation circulated on social media that the possum was attacked by golfers or anyone else,” Lucas told The Island Packet before releasing the official statement. “We have not been able to locate any witnesses who saw something like that or claim to have direct knowledge.”
”An examination by a local veterinarian could not yield a conclusive determination about the cause of the possum’s injuries,” the statement released 10 a.m. Wednesday said.
How the opossum was injured remains unclear, and Lucas refused to identify the community where the opossum was found.
“There’s been a lot of ire directed at people as a result of the original post put up by the director (of the wildlife rehab center),” he said Monday. “So we don’t feel like there’s any need to fuel that by talking about the location.”
As of Wednesday morning, the opossum was alive and recovering with a rehabilitator on the island.
What happened?
Wendy Watson, president of the Greenville rehab center, said Monday that rehabilitators were called to the scene Thursday by a woman who found the animal. The caller did not identify herself to Watson.
In the Facebook post, Watson wrote that the animal was beaten with golf clubs and was left badly injured on the course. The post fueled angry and sorrowful commentary. Some wished or threatened violence on the perpetrators and begged the center to identify the golf course.
Watson said she did not know whether the caller saw an attack happen and acknowledged that there was no photo or video evidence of an attack. She said the Facebook post has led to near-constant calls to the center and a flurry of online outrage.
She said the animal’s injuries appear consistent with blunt-force trauma, although she acknowledged she had not seen the animal firsthand.
“When it’s hit by the car, there’s road rash. If it (is) attacked by another animal, there are puncture wounds,” Watson said. “The gash under her throat looks like it was made by a golf club head.”
But other evidence appeared to be lacking.
In Wednesday’s statement, Lucas wrote “The investigation by Beaufort County SCDNR Officers included multiple interviews with individuals involved with the rescue of the injured possum, which was found when a passing motorist spotted it on the side of a road, approximately 300 feet from a golf course fairway and some nearby homes.”
He said the “good samaritan who stopped to help the possum did not advise seeing golfers or any other people in the area, and no other people stopped or were present at the scene before local volunteers affiliated with the nonprofit group Wildlife Rehab of Greenville arrived to pick it up.”
This contradicts information posted online by the center that the woman who found the animal witnessed any sort of attack.
Meanwhile, the Wildlife Rehab Center, an organization run by volunteers, received over $10,000 in donations to support the opossum’s recovery. The center posted Friday about small crocheted stuffed animals it was selling to raise money for the opossum’s care.
Watson said the money will go toward Scarlett’s recovery and then be added to the center’s general fund, where it will buy medications, baby animal formula, medical supplies and feeding tools.
Anyone with information about this incident may contact SCDNR’s Operation Game Thief Hotline at 1-800-922-5431 .
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 9:34 AM.
