Culture

Everyone Loves This Extremely Apologetic Possum Who Trashed Someone’s Office

"He really looks like he's having an existential crisis."

by Michelle Rennex  23 January 2020
Apologetic Possum Trash Office

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As Australia’s wild weather has continued to rage over the last four months, our wildlife have had a pretty tough run.

After all, it’s estimated that over one billion animals have already perished during the bushfire crisis currently facing the country. But while most of the stories coming out about animals have been pretty gloomy, a tiny, apologetic possum has managed to steal the internet’s heart.

On Monday morning, Bree Blakeman shared two photos of a little possum hiding behind her computer. The research fellow at Canberra’s Australian National University wrote: “Walked into my office and thought someone must have broken in because it looks trashed… and then I saw this little sweetie covering behind my computer.”

The photo of the remorseful-looking brushtail possum quickly went viral, so Bree continued to update those curious. In a series of tweets, Bree explained that the possum had entered her office from the ceiling and tried to exit the same way.

“It seemed resigned and of course a bit shy and scared. Going by the number of books that had fallen from the shelves I think it must have tried to climb up the shelves to get up through the ceiling again a number of times,” Bree told BuzzFeed News. “So I think it was a bit exhausted too.”

After finding the scared possum, Bree quickly realised that her office hadn’t been ransacked. The adorable little brushtail cowering on her desk simply didn’t know how to leave the light-filled office.

As a nocturnal animal in a bright room, Bree quickly called wildlife relocation services to remove the possum from the foreign environment. But despite a box trap being set in the office, a day later the possum still didn’t leave his comfortable spot.

It was only on Wednesday that the possum decided enough was enough and exited the office the same way he entered. While three days away from her desk would likely normally pose an inconvenience to the research fellow, Australian National University was actually closed over this time. The wild weather conditions facing Canberra this week, including golf-sized hail balls, kept Bree’s office closed until Thursday, giving the possum ample time to find his own way out.

As Bree patiently waited for the possum to leave her office, people couldn’t help but point out how remorseful the animal looked.

And, of course, everyone else just took the opportunity to meme the poor, scared baby as they waited for updates on his office shenanigans.

Personally, I think we should be the ones apologising to the possum. It’s his office now.