Last month, an injured opossum arrived at Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Massachusetts. She was found to be suffering from multiple facial injuries after an apparent vehicle strike, but the opossum proved to be a fighter.
“Despite all this, she was able to stand and walk and was alert and aware of her surroundings,” her caretakers wrote. “This quick assessment let us know she had a chance.”
The opossum’s road to recovery was to be a long one, but her spirit has been unstoppable — and a recent incident at the clinic proves it.
After a touch-and-go beginning, the opossum’s condition improved enough that she attempted something no one expected.
Arriving to the furry patient’s recovery room, her caretakers found her kennel door wide open and her missing. However, she didn’t get far.
To locate the opossum, her caretakers just had to use their ears:
“Our opossum patient pulled a great escape overnight,” Cape Wildlife Center wrote. “But she made it very easy for us to quickly locate her under the shift cage, thanks to her loud snoring.”
After breaking free, the little opossum was all tuckered out.
The opossum’s attempted departure had been unauthorized, but it came as an encouraging sign that her will to live and be free remains undaunted.
“We’re extremely pleased with this mighty marsupial’s recovery journey,” her caretakers wrote. “After the surgery and treatment she’s been through for jaw fractures and ocular trauma, we love seeing her resting so comfortably and continuing to get better day by day!”
If all continues to go as planned, the opossum will one day be released back into the wild — to live, roam and snooze where nature intended.
