One Australian homeowner got quite the shock when she stepped into her bathroom and felt that unmistakable sensation of being watched.
She looked up — and there it was.
Perched along the upper frame of her shower door was a small snake, quietly observing from above. At first glance, he blended in so well that he was almost invisible.
The startled homeowner quickly contacted Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 for help.
“She was just about to jump in the shower when she found him sitting on the shower door,” Heather from the rescue group explained.
The snake — a harmless common tree snake about 2½ feet long — seemed perfectly comfortable indoors. But a bathroom is hardly the right habitat for a tree-dwelling reptile.
Within minutes, the rescue team safely secured him and released him back outside on the property, none the worse for his brief indoor adventure.
Scratching Sounds From the Downpipe
In a separate wildlife rescue in Glenbrook, Australia, a homeowner heard an unusual scratching sound coming from a clay downpipe near his shed.
Curious, he lifted the pipe’s cover — and came face to face with a trapped possum staring up at him.
Unsure how to help, he contacted WIRES Wildlife Rescue. Volunteer rescuer Tracy arrived and initially suspected the possum had fallen down from the roof gutter.
But when she tried to gently pull the frightened animal free with a towel, the possum wouldn’t budge.
To calm her, Tracy offered pieces of apple and grapes provided by the homeowner. Once the possum relaxed a little, Tracy investigated further — and discovered the pipe didn’t lead down from the roof at all. It ran underground to a nearby creek.
The curious possum had likely crawled inside to explore, much like she would investigate a tree hollow in the wild — but couldn’t reverse her way out of the long, narrow tunnel.
With that insight, Tracy dug around the pipe’s creek opening and disconnected a section, creating enough space for the possum to shimmy free.
Finally, she wriggled out.
After a precautionary vet check, the possum was released back into the surrounding bushland. The homeowner later secured the pipe opening with chicken wire to prevent future mishaps.
For rescuers like Tracy, moments like this are especially meaningful.
“Good outcomes like this are always very rewarding,” she said. “They show how communities can help make a safer world for wildlife living alongside us.”