You open the door to your office on a Monday morning, expecting to be greeted by the usual sight: a computer sitting on your desk with not much else, to be honest. Basically, nothing exciting.
Instead, the place looks as though it’s been trashed, with books and masses of paperwork strewn across the entirety of the room. There’s even a hole in the office’s ceiling.
This all sounds like the start of a police report, doesn’t it? Or at least the start of the day from hell. But it isn’t, as it’s actually the start of Bree Blakeman’s day on Monday, January 20, when a very sorry-looking possum got trapped in her office.
Blakeman, who works as a research fellow at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, initially thought someone must have broken into her office when she saw the mess in front of her.
Precious Aboriginal bark paintings and maps were strewn across the floor and books had fallen from the shelves, with dislodged tiles lying on the ground beneath the ceiling – which now sported a large hole in it.
Looking around to see what else was damaged or potentially stolen, the research fellow realised she wasn’t alone, telling BuzzFeed News: ‘It wasn’t until I went to check my computer on the far side of the room that I noticed a fluffy little face staring at me from behind the computer.’
Blakeman continued:
And that’s when I also noticed the toilet droppings and urine everywhere too. It all made sense.
The fluffy intruder was a common brushtail possum, which had made its way into the office through the roof and then got trapped when it fell through the ceiling.
Blakeman said the animal seemed ‘resigned, shy and scared’. She believes the possum must have tried to climb up the shelves to get up through the ceiling again a number of times, judging by the number of books that had fallen from the shelves. ‘So I think it was a bit exhausted too,’ she said.
Feeling sorry for the animal – which is nocturnal – she gave it some water, a piece of carrot and ‘a few kind words’, before closing the door and calling the ‘relocation people’.
However, initial rescue efforts had to be called off when ANU campus was closed after Canberra was hit by a severe hail storm, but a box trap with fruit to entice the possum was placed in the office in the hopes it could re-energise.
Two days later, January 22, Blakeman received an email to say the possum had finally made its way out of the office of its own accord. ‘After a rest and a snack it must have managed to climb back up through the hole in the ceiling,’ she said.
Although Blakeman’s office is still a mess, she is more concerned about the animal’s wellbeing, and has urged others to donate to charities that help rescue wildlife, stating: ‘I’m glad this story had a happy ending but many don’t and many of these little possums end up having to be rescued for one reason or another.’
Let’s hope the li’l guy made its way home okay and is recuperating somewhere safe.
You can donate to NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES), the largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation charity in Australia, here.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).