When Bree Blakeman, a research fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra, walked into her office on a Monday morning, she probably expected the usual coffee-fueled start to her week.
Instead, she found the place trashed.
Pieces of the ceiling had fallen.
Books were knocked from shelves, and there were Aboriginal bark paintings and maps strewn about.
She thought she had been robbed.
When she entered the room to survey the damage, it turned out the culprit was still inside!
Behind her computer huddled a very cute, and very guilty looking possum.
Most likely, he had fallen through the ceiling and knocked everything around in his panic.
Look at that face! Don’t be mad!
Professionals were brought in and left a humane trap with some tasty food to entice the fuzzy guy inside.
After a couple of days, though, Bree was beginning to wonder if it would ever leave.
Until finally, the professionals could find no sign of the possum. Rather than getting in the trap, it must have climbed back out the way it came in.
More gracefully, I hope.
Her tweets about the possum garnered a ton of attention.
Not just because the possum looked so guilty, but because those of us in North America were very upset to learn that Australian possums are so cute and cuddly-looking.
Meanwhile, ours look like monster rats.
Hopefully, the little guy has safely made it out of the building.
Or maybe we’ll see him again when he makes a home in another unattended office.
