An Australian wildlife rescuer thought she was heading out to recover a dead possum stuck between two fence posts.
Instead, she discovered the animal was still alive.
Hamilton Wildlife Shelter in Hamilton, Australia, said it received a call on Sunday, Sept. 13, about a ringtail possum that appeared to have died after becoming wedged between two metal gate poles.
The rescuer said she normally does not respond to calls involving dead possums, but because the animal was stuck high up and the person who found it could not properly check it, she decided to go out anyway.
“I don’t normally go out to dead possums, but as it was high and the member of the public couldn’t check it, I decided I would head there and do a pouch check and remove the body,” she wrote.
When she arrived, she nearly missed the animal because of where it was positioned.
The possum was hanging limp in an upside-down U shape between the posts and looked lifeless.
Before removing it, the rescuer took photos for educational purposes.
She later clarified that the animal had not been intentionally placed there and had not been crushed or compressed. It had simply slipped and become stuck in a narrow space between the fence poles.
As the rescuer began trying to remove the possum, she noticed something unusual.
The animal was limp, but it was not stiff, and there was still some warmth around its belly.
At first, she believed the possum had probably died only a few hours earlier.
Then its arm moved.
Moments later, its eyes opened.
“This possum was NOT DEAD!!!” Hamilton Wildlife Shelter wrote on Facebook.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
The animal had apparently been unconscious, extremely cold and almost completely motionless.
Freeing the possum was not easy because of its height and the barbed wire on the fence, but the rescuer eventually managed to carefully lift it out.
She explained that nothing had been crushing the possum’s organs or limbs.
“Where he was stuck is the thinnest part of a possum, and I was simply able to lift him out once I got him past the barbed wire barbs,” she wrote.
Although the possum was finally free, its condition was still concerning.
The animal was dangerously cold, barely responsive and badly bruised.
But once the rescuer began warming and treating him, his condition slowly improved.
“He was so cold and barely responsive, but as the day has progressed and with warmth, he has come back to life,” the rescuer wrote.
The shelter later said the possum was standing again and moving all four limbs.
Officials said he may be dealing with myopathy or pneumonia, but he received fluids, pain medication and was kept warm in a brooder while recovering.
Hamilton Wildlife Shelter also stressed that it does not believe any deliberate cruelty was involved.
“Nobody stuck him there,” the organization wrote.
The rescue believes the possum probably traveled along the same fence regularly and simply slipped into the gap by accident.
The shelter later posted video showing the possum awake, with his eyes open, resting on a blanket.
Common ringtail possums are native to Australia and are commonly found along the country’s eastern and southern coasts.
They are skilled climbers that spend much of their lives in trees and only rarely come down to the ground.
Thanks to one rescuer deciding to check on what appeared to be a dead animal, this possum got a second chance.