It’s not clear if he was trying to break in or break out, but inmates at a Massachusetts jail were the first to spot him struggling atop a razor sharp fence.
Those same inmates are now being credited for helping save the life of the helpless, injured opossum.
“He was trying to climb over the fence of a prison when inmates noticed this young male opossum,” Chelmsford-based Newhouse Wildlife Rescue posted on social media Wednesday. “He was in quite the predicament and didn’t know how to get out.”
The opossum had slashed himself on the barbed wire meant to keep prisoners in, not usually opossums out.
“He was bleeding badly and having a lot of trouble finding his way out. Things didn’t look good for this him,” the wildlife facility explained.
Animal Control Officer Ashley Chmiel from Billerica & Tewksbury Animal Control raced to the prison where she was able to get the opossum down without the animal suffering further injuries. But the critter had a large laceration on its abdomen.
As soon as veterinarian Dr. Victoria Vasilakis saw a picture of the injury, she asked the rescue group to bring him in right away for care.
“She stayed late at work yesterday to do an emergency surgery on this guy – for free,” Newhouse wrote.
“Thank you Officer Chmiel, Dr. Vasilakis for being the amazing human beings you are and helping us save this opossum’s life yesterday,” the organization explained, adding:
“A special thank you to the inmates who noticed him up there. He is alive today because of you.”
