A hungry opossum with an unrivaled sweet tooth is on the road to recovery after eating an entire chocolate cake from Costco, an animal rehabilitation center posted.
"This Virginia opossum was admitted today after reportedly devouring an ENTIRE Costco chocolate cake," Nebraska Wildlife Rehab Inc. shared on Facebook on Feb. 10.
The Nebraska Wildlife Rehab is located in Omaha and rehabilitates "native Nebraska wildlife and migratory birds for return to the wild," according to its website. The organization also facilitates nature preservation efforts and education programs.
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An image in the post from the opossum's intake notes from an animal control officer said the opossum was "brought in due to having eaten an entire Costco chocolate cake."
The animal "was panting a lot, however mobile and alert," the note said. While the intake note labeled the opossum as a male, she is actually a female, the rehab noted.
Another picture showed the opossum looking agitated while being examined by a rehabilitation staff member.
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"With some time in rehab (and a diet reset), this choco-holic should be stabilized enough to return to the wild, but until then, she is definitely a little cranky about our strict 'zero chocolate' policy!" Nebraska Wildlife Rehab said.
"Same, opossum ... same," the post added.
The amusing post went viral on Facebook and was shared more than 3,000 times - with many people commenting that they, too, wished to eat an entire chocolate cake.
"I relate to this opossum on a spiritual level," wrote one Facebook user.
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Others defended the opossum's unusual diet splurge.
"To be fair, if I ate a whole Costco chocolate cake I would probably be panting a lot, too," said another user.
"We've all been there, girl," wrote another.
One Facebook user had questions about which particular Costco cake the opossum ate.
"Which one, the sheet cake or the rectangle?" wrote the user, to which another replied, "Been there, huh?"
The opossum is expected to make a full recovery.
The Nebraska Wildlife Rehab made a commemorative shirt for their "Opossum Cake Bandit" in response to the story's viral reach.
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Sales of the shirt will "support our mission to save native wildlife and contribute to more success stories like hers."
Chocolate cake - whether from Costco or otherwise - is not a normal part of the opossum's diet.
Opossums are marsupials and "will live wherever food, water and shelter exist," according to the website for the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.
"They inhabit woodland areas along streams, ponds, lakes, swamps and marshes. Farmland and woodlots are preferred over extensively forested areas" and are known to live near residential areas as well, the site said.
Opossums, the site said, are both "a scavenger and an ominivore" and eat primarily at night.
"The diet consists mainly of insects, worms, carrion (dead animals), reptiles, amphibians, birds and their eggs, crustaceans, berries, fruits and small mammals," according to the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.
