- Fortunately this opossum got the care it needed after accidentally poisoning itself with chocolate (and lead.)
Have you ever eaten so much sweet stuff that you felt sick afterward? Of course you have — we’ve all been there.
Most of us, fortunately, get over it with a couple of hours of discomfort. There’s usually no need to rush anybody to a hospital for a little tummy ache.
You can’t say the same about this opossum.
A Nebraska family ran out of room in their fridge. Fortunately, it was in the middle of winter, so they simply placed the Costco chocolate mousse cake they’d bought on their back deck.
The family never got to enjoy their treat, however. When they stepped outside, they found almost the whole cake was gone.
In its place, there was a very sick-looking opossum curled up on the deck.
It was pretty obvious the cake was now inside the possum, but that gave the animal-loving family cause for concern. They weren’t sure whether chocolate is good for possums, so they decided to take the critter to a veterinary hospital.
It’s a good thing they did, too. Chocolate is indeed toxic to possums, but the animal had a much bigger problem — it suffered from lead poisoning.
Luckily, the vets are now treating the possum, and it’s expected to make a full recovery. It’s not very happy about not being allowed to eat more chocolate, though.
Undone by Greed
Kim Doggett is a real estate agent from Gretna, a Nebraska city near Omaha. She likes to keep her fridge and pantry well stocked — sometimes too much so.
Recently, Doggett purchased a Costco chocolate mousse cake, but couldn’t fit it in their fridge. She knows just what to do in this situation, though.
“I always have a house full and we cook a lot. When you run out of room in the fridge you just sit it on the table outside in the winter,” Doggett told Forbes.
And that’s what the Doggetts did. They placed the cake outside on their deck furniture.
Some time later, as Doggett’s son went out to put something else on the table, he realized the cake was no longer there. The packaging had been knocked to the ground, and almost the entire cake was gone.
Chocolatey paw prints led to the culprit. On the deck couch, curled into a tight ball, was an opossum.
Doggett immediately realized something was wrong with the animal.
“We googled chocolate with possums, because I know with dogs it’s poisonous, and thought this would not be good for this little girl,” she said.
The internet failed Doggett, however, so she decided to play it safe. She called Nebraska Wildlife Rehab (NWR), whose agents came and picked up the possum.
Worse Than Chocolate
The opossum is lucky that it got taken to NWR. It’s not completely certain if chocolate is toxic to possums, but it most likely is.
“We assume that chocolate would be toxic to opossums and other wildlife, but we don’t know of any published studies confirming that,” NWR executive director Laura Stastny said.
To resolve its issues, the opossum was fed activated charcoal and plenty of fluids. The veterinarians also gave it a comprehensive health exam.
The results revealed a much bigger problem than chocolate. It turns out the possum had lead poisoning.
Sadly, the area around Gretna is contaminated with large amounts of lead in the soil. According to NWR, the opossum probably ingested the lead by eating insects, that had in turn sucked up the heavy metal from the ground.
“This is a common issue in wildlife, with different causes for different species, and it will take several weeks of treatment and supportive care to chelate the lead from her body,” said Stastny.
Luckily, the opossum is receiving that weeks-long care right now. It’s a good thing, too, because despite their reputation, opossums are quite useful animals. For instance, they eat a lot of ticks and rodents that could be a much bigger issue than the possums.
However, not all is well. Reportedly, the opossum isn’t completely happy with its stay at NWR.
“She is definitely a little cranky about our strict ‘zero chocolate’ policy,” the organization wrote on social media.