An Australian couple thought they were in for a quiet evening in front of the TV. Their dog, however, had other plans.
He wouldn’t stop barking, and his growing agitation made them suspect an unwelcome visitor — maybe even a rat.
But when they looked closer, they realized it wasn’t just noise their pup was alerting them to. A brand-new hole had appeared near the ceiling of their living room wall.
And poking through that hole was … a tiny pink nose.
Not a rat’s nose, though. A possum’s.
Specifically, a brushtail possum — a nocturnal marsupial common along Australia’s east coast — who seemed to be attempting a dramatic entrance.
Thinking the animal might be trapped, the couple cut open the hole to help. But before they could get close, the possum darted out of reach.
Unsure what to do next, they called in reinforcements: wildlife emergency responder and vet nurse Amy Wregg.
“They were definitely more worried about the possum’s welfare than the wall,” Wregg told Yahoo! News.
With the couple’s permission, Wregg cut the wall a bit wider. The possum didn’t hesitate — she wriggled out, scrambled back into the roof, and eventually made her way outside, leaving the humans wondering why she’d been trying to tunnel into their lounge in the first place.
“I’m not sure why it was chewing out through the walls, because there were plenty of ways it could get out,” Wregg said. “I think they had a fruit bowl nearby and maybe it could smell it.”
After the excitement, the couple patched the holes both inside and out — and added a possum box outside, offering safe shelter for any curious marsupials that might wander too close again.
Wregg approved of the plan. “Unless you fix the problem where they're getting into the roof and provide habitat for them, they’re just gonna keep coming in,” she said.
For now, the possum has a new outdoor home — and the couple can relax knowing any future surprise noses will stay on the outside of their walls.
