Turns out, stuffing her face with cake may actually have saved her life.
Earlier this week, an unexpected patient arrived at the Nebraska Wildlife Rehab veterinary clinic—a wild opossum with an unusual problem. Picked up by animal control, she wasn’t injured but had been acting strangely. The reason? A little too much chocolate cake.
The opossum had stumbled upon a party treat left outside for just a moment. Seizing the opportunity, she indulged in the entire cake all by herself. When she was eventually caught, the expression on her face suggested she knew she’d overdone it.
“Our reaction, of course, was laughter at the note,” said Laura Stastny, executive director of Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, in an interview with The Dodo.
Despite the humor in the situation, caretakers took the incident seriously. Since chocolate can be toxic to many animals, they immediately administered activated charcoal and fluids as a precaution. A full medical workup—including blood pressure checks, X-rays, and blood tests—was performed to ensure she hadn’t suffered any serious effects.
To everyone’s relief, the cake binge hadn’t caused lasting harm. However, the opossum’s health check revealed a more pressing issue—she was suffering from lead toxicity, an often fatal condition in wildlife.
“This is a common issue in wildlife, with different causes for different species,” Stastny explained.
Now receiving treatment for the toxicity, the opossum is recovering well. Ironically, her cake theft may have saved her life, as she might never have been rescued otherwise.
“We hope she’ll be ready for release later in March,” Stastny said. “Perhaps she was lucky she stole that cake (I’m sure it was tasty) because she was caught and is now getting the critical treatment she needs.”
A sweet ending to an unexpected adventure.