An opossum was hospitalized after eating an entire Costco chocolate mousse cake left on a Nebraska real estate agent’s porch.
Kim Doggett and her son discovered the opossum curled up on their patio furniture Sunday morning.
Chocolate paw prints covered the sofa, and the nearly-eaten cake was on the deck floor.
An Unintended Chocolate Feast
Due to a full fridge, the Doggetts often leave food outside during winter, and the mousse cake was no exception. They never expected the opossum to “help itself” to the treat.
After realizing the opossum was in distress, Doggett searched online and found out chocolate could be toxic to opossums, much like it is for dogs.
“I couldn’t leave the sick opossum overnight,” Doggett said. “It had too much of a good thing.”
Opossum Hospitalized and Recovering
The Nebraska Wildlife Rehab team took the 6-pound Virginia opossum, where they expect it to make a full recovery.
The rescue center cheekily named it the “Cake Bandit” and even created t-shirts to support wildlife preservation efforts.
“Sometimes, a sweet tooth just can’t wait until Valentine’s Day. After some time in rehab and a diet reset, this opossum will be strong enough to return to the wild. However, for now, she’s definitely not happy with our strict ‘no chocolate’ policy,” Nebraska Wildlife Rehab shared on Facebook.
Sympathetic Social Media Comments
The story of the “Cake Bandit” quickly went viral, garnering thousands of comments from social media users.
“We’ve all been there,” one person commented.
Another wrote, “It’s okay, lil dude.”
“I don’t know how to act around chocolate cake either!” – another humorous comment.
The opossum is still recovering, and this story serves as a reminder: Too much of a good thing can sometimes cause problems.