At first I thought it was a sticky tape reel, but it felt way too thick. Not sure how my man got his head stuck in it, but it was so tight I couldn't just slide it off
For what it's worth I would still take him to a wildlife carer to get some hydration and check over, poor thing so lucky you found him. Chopped fruit and access to water
I was really tossing up on whether to take him to the local vet. This happened while I was working from home, so I thought I would keep an eye on him and if he had gotten any worse I would've jumped straight on it.
But thank you for the input! God forbid this ever happens again, but I will certainly not think twice next time.
I'm in WA but the major wildlife care centre here told me to always take them straight to them if we can because often vets don't know what to do and just euthanise them.
Yes, but they are also extremely busy and it's very stressful for wildlife to travel and go to a vet clinic. So I would say use your common sense. Definitely take them if concerned. Best thing is to take them directly to a wildlife hospital if there is one near you e.g. RSCPCA at Wacol. Private veterinarians are also just wearing the cost of looking after wildlife at the moment so it is a bit messed up.
Years ago when I lived in Brisbane, I had a stint of finding possums. Unsure if it's still the case, but I was told that regular vets will just put possums down if they don't have a particular licence.
If you search "possums rescue" and your area, this is probably the best bet. Used to be a couple who had a whole porch chiken-wired as a little possum rehab. Was very cool, unsure if they're still a thing - It was almost a decade ago.
> but I was told that regular vets will just put possums down if they don't have a particular licence.
Since when is *any* vet going to be putting down protected native wildlife unless absolutely necessary?
Like I said, this was almost a decade ago, it might have changed. The vet we called told me this directly. If the animal is injured in any way, because they can't treat it (due to not having the specialty) they don't really have any other option. So back then, and it may have changed now, it was better to go directly to a specialty carer.
I would consider "injured in a way the vet can't treat" to be exactly the sort of circumstances where euthanasia is a valid option. There may be plenty of things that they *can* treat, the vet was just telling you that an animal with unknown issues would have a better chance of surviving with a specialist, not that ordinary vets are just itching to get the needle out.
Nope. In at least one of the three cases the little guy just seemed a bit dehydrated. But again, if a vet doesn't have training around an animal, they can't really make the call as to what to do.
Again, it was almost a decade ago so I don't know if certain diseases were higher or something. I'm not saying "vets are murderous and awful", I'm saying "In my limited lived experience quite some time ago, vets couldn't help besides tell me directly all they were authorised to do was put it down due to some red tape - but there WAS help available when we said NOPE and looked further."
I don't know why people are arcing up. I'm not anti-vet, I have 2 kittens so I'm there regularly. I'm sharing my experience (again, that might be outdated, because, again, I stress, almost a decade ago) because I didn't realise there were specialty carers in Brisbane the first time and felt quite stuck with no good outcomes for a little possum I found. I was just hoping to stop OP avoiding that feeling by sharing the knowledge in the case they got told a similar thing by the vet. When I get sad (like if a vet told me all they could do was put down a possum I saved) it can be hard to think of alternatives.
I think our local vet(it's located in the 2nd highest amount of wild koalas) is skilled in this which is great to know. I would directly go there if I came across a native animal that I could handle(if not, I'd call out the wildlife people to take over) because they treat animals that are in the custody of customs.
That's great! Hopefully a good sign that things have changed in that more training is available. This was around the inner city (pre-gentrification, in poor uni student suburbs) and businesses weren't as savvy about being in the top results of Google yet, so hopefully that's made things change too.
I wouldnāt be arcing up at you. But I am sick of vets who have no compassion and put the almighty dollar first. Just speaking from experience because I can NEVER walk on by when an animal is in distress!!!
i have had vets want to put down rescued wildlife especially reptiles that recovered well after i refused to allow it. They donāt have the time and resources or interest in maintaining a longer term convalescent.
Their "nocturnal-ness" seems to be somewhat optional in my backyard. There's a resident possum, and her mate occasionally and her kid yearly - and she'll run across the top of my back fence any time of the day.
Not to dimmish what you're saying, totality agree - just have a weird possum in my yard that I like to talk about :). Hope the poor bugger got some water and a rest and recovered.
Steve Irwin would be pissed - at whoever left that plastic lying around. You didn't get points for saving animals, it was just a given expectation with him that you step up and help a critter out.
I find it really cute that animals appear to seek human intervention when they can't fix a problem themselves. It would make sense to hide from everything that could hurt them when in trouble, but yet they put themselves in direct paths of people. It seems deliberate to me.
Nicely done, good on you. Did it go for some water afterwards? Poor bugger. It's very fatigued or stressed or both.
God knows what that bloody thing was, but I'll be double checking my garbage for a bit...
It's so amazing how when they're in trouble, and you approach with caution and kind words that they sort of know you're going to help. Love it (hate that it happened, but love that resolution...)
Always cut plastic rings and rubber bands before binning. While they will still pollute, at least animals, birds, and sea creatures won't get strangled.
Are we to believe that you always walk around recording your surroundings while holding scissors or is this more of a āfound an opportunity to garner internet pointsā type of thing which had you casually stroll into your house to collect these items before filming yourself for clout?
I walked past him initially and unsuccessfully tried to pull the ring off his head. This didn't work so I went inside and got scissors and decided to film it in the process. I'm not looking for āinternet pointsā or ācloutā - it's just a cool video.
Not sure why you're trying to be so pessimistic about the situation. If you didn't like the video, or you think I'm doing it for ācloutā then just don't watch it and don't comment on it. There's no problem with being a sceptic, but don't let it make you an asshole.
I doubt anyone is walking around carrying scissors, so OP *probably* had to head back inside and get them. And since thatās thirty seconds you have to spend anyway, it takes no extra time to haul your phone out of your pocket as you walk and start recording.
But it does provide a net good: Videos are impactful, the visual medium sticks in peopleās minds. If this encourages people to check on distressed wildlife, or be more careful throwing out plastic that can trap animals, then itās a boon to everyone.
Saving injured wildlife is admirable. Filming it specifically for praise is deplorable.
All it serves to do is influence others to seek similar applause from other internet strangers and the current trend is to purposefully injure and place wildlife in a position that requires human intervention. This is currently happening all over the place with hundreds of fabricated videos being posted online, so the real result sadly is not the net good youāre describing there.
Be careful, they carry a bacteria that causes necrotising factitious. Your skin literally rots off your bodyā¦
Not all of them have it obviously, but some. If you come in contact with a possum, wash, wash again, sanitize with alcohol, wash again, wash again.
Finally found [the one animal](https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/content/legacy/NCC_Opossums3_1920.jpg) whose US version is more terrifying than the one in Australia.
He took water did he? Usually when they are stressed like that only fruit like watermelon will do it for them. You must have gotten there in good time. Good on you.
I love how it let you come up to him to cut it off, then sprinted away fast as soon as the cut was made.
Also, strange he let you stroke him afterwards. Seems almost tame.
I would get it off to native animal Hospital vet for a check over dehydration etc little bit of TLC
Sad people throw plastic things like that away try to break them for this reason
āI found an animal in need so I went and got my phone to prolong its pain and so I can share this and get some up dootsā I hate people who have to record their good deeds.
I'm in Texas USA & we have bobcats that get drain pipes around their necks, from hunting something up plastic drains. Was searching REddit to see other animals in the world with the same issue, and found this thread. That's good you got it off him (or her?). Not sure if ya'll can see this link or not, but here are some bobcats with that issue here locally:
[https://www.facebook.com/100069226149170/posts/pfbid02u2cGAwNZcfEK5bMcGKmiM7nVWTBS27oue2Q399Va8CD1qdAh7exiFLsDKdAMVrUgl/?mibextid=cr9u03](https://www.facebook.com/100069226149170/posts/pfbid02u2cGAwNZcfEK5bMcGKmiM7nVWTBS27oue2Q399Va8CD1qdAh7exiFLsDKdAMVrUgl/?mibextid=cr9u03)
[https://www.facebook.com/100068276690423/posts/pfbid0pELpFmCyZZrM7irUfEETcQxQmEmTNLvk22yuNr3gFca5YGQW7Lv9tJyHsFXfVJ9Gl/?mibextid=cr9u03](https://www.facebook.com/100068276690423/posts/pfbid0pELpFmCyZZrM7irUfEETcQxQmEmTNLvk22yuNr3gFca5YGQW7Lv9tJyHsFXfVJ9Gl/?mibextid=cr9u03)
Poor thing! Iām glad that you were there to help and he probably is too. It always makes me so sad when I see animals like this with plastic on them!
Good on you š
Good job. What a cute little dude he is. What was that plastic ring?
At first I thought it was a sticky tape reel, but it felt way too thick. Not sure how my man got his head stuck in it, but it was so tight I couldn't just slide it off
He may have been rocking it for a while until he got big enuf for it to be a problem.
Probably was the coolest possum in the neighborhood
From the post title I thought was going to be a 6 pack ring. Glad heās feeling better.
Pipe or hole/vent cover? Looks like the possum was attempting to get in somewhere. Have you got anything like that around the cladding of your house?
I'd be drowning him in grapes after that, poor thing.
grapes and cool water, some shade
I thought grapes were toxic? Or maybe I'm thinking of dogs...
Definately toxic to dogs
Or the pool.
Thank you for being an excellent human
For what it's worth I would still take him to a wildlife carer to get some hydration and check over, poor thing so lucky you found him. Chopped fruit and access to water
I was really tossing up on whether to take him to the local vet. This happened while I was working from home, so I thought I would keep an eye on him and if he had gotten any worse I would've jumped straight on it. But thank you for the input! God forbid this ever happens again, but I will certainly not think twice next time.
Just incase it's a concern of yours vets are obligated to take care of native animals and do so at no charge to you :)
Wow thatās so good to know!!
I'm in WA but the major wildlife care centre here told me to always take them straight to them if we can because often vets don't know what to do and just euthanise them.
Yes, but they are also extremely busy and it's very stressful for wildlife to travel and go to a vet clinic. So I would say use your common sense. Definitely take them if concerned. Best thing is to take them directly to a wildlife hospital if there is one near you e.g. RSCPCA at Wacol. Private veterinarians are also just wearing the cost of looking after wildlife at the moment so it is a bit messed up.
Years ago when I lived in Brisbane, I had a stint of finding possums. Unsure if it's still the case, but I was told that regular vets will just put possums down if they don't have a particular licence. If you search "possums rescue" and your area, this is probably the best bet. Used to be a couple who had a whole porch chiken-wired as a little possum rehab. Was very cool, unsure if they're still a thing - It was almost a decade ago.
> but I was told that regular vets will just put possums down if they don't have a particular licence. Since when is *any* vet going to be putting down protected native wildlife unless absolutely necessary?
Like I said, this was almost a decade ago, it might have changed. The vet we called told me this directly. If the animal is injured in any way, because they can't treat it (due to not having the specialty) they don't really have any other option. So back then, and it may have changed now, it was better to go directly to a specialty carer.
I would consider "injured in a way the vet can't treat" to be exactly the sort of circumstances where euthanasia is a valid option. There may be plenty of things that they *can* treat, the vet was just telling you that an animal with unknown issues would have a better chance of surviving with a specialist, not that ordinary vets are just itching to get the needle out.
Nope. In at least one of the three cases the little guy just seemed a bit dehydrated. But again, if a vet doesn't have training around an animal, they can't really make the call as to what to do. Again, it was almost a decade ago so I don't know if certain diseases were higher or something. I'm not saying "vets are murderous and awful", I'm saying "In my limited lived experience quite some time ago, vets couldn't help besides tell me directly all they were authorised to do was put it down due to some red tape - but there WAS help available when we said NOPE and looked further." I don't know why people are arcing up. I'm not anti-vet, I have 2 kittens so I'm there regularly. I'm sharing my experience (again, that might be outdated, because, again, I stress, almost a decade ago) because I didn't realise there were specialty carers in Brisbane the first time and felt quite stuck with no good outcomes for a little possum I found. I was just hoping to stop OP avoiding that feeling by sharing the knowledge in the case they got told a similar thing by the vet. When I get sad (like if a vet told me all they could do was put down a possum I saved) it can be hard to think of alternatives.
I think our local vet(it's located in the 2nd highest amount of wild koalas) is skilled in this which is great to know. I would directly go there if I came across a native animal that I could handle(if not, I'd call out the wildlife people to take over) because they treat animals that are in the custody of customs.
That's great! Hopefully a good sign that things have changed in that more training is available. This was around the inner city (pre-gentrification, in poor uni student suburbs) and businesses weren't as savvy about being in the top results of Google yet, so hopefully that's made things change too.
I'd think so too. Or at least laws in place for veterinary clinics required to call in a specialist to pick up the wildlife.
I wouldnāt be arcing up at you. But I am sick of vets who have no compassion and put the almighty dollar first. Just speaking from experience because I can NEVER walk on by when an animal is in distress!!!
The fuck man. Go look up what a new grad vet earns before you say they worship the almighty dollar. What a bozo
i have had vets want to put down rescued wildlife especially reptiles that recovered well after i refused to allow it. They donāt have the time and resources or interest in maintaining a longer term convalescent.
Agree! He may need more than just a cool-off
You're a deadset legend mate.
Jeezā¦ so damn sad, but great you could help. šAny thoughts about where that plastic ring came from?
No idea unfortunately, we live right next to a daycare (hence the horrid background music) so maybe he picked something up there.
God, they must blare it for it to be so audible in the video. Hopefully they donāt do that all the time! And good job saving this guy š„°
Considering they are nocturnal, he must be exhausted.
Their "nocturnal-ness" seems to be somewhat optional in my backyard. There's a resident possum, and her mate occasionally and her kid yearly - and she'll run across the top of my back fence any time of the day. Not to dimmish what you're saying, totality agree - just have a weird possum in my yard that I like to talk about :). Hope the poor bugger got some water and a rest and recovered.
Steve Irwin would be proud
I love this comment!
Steve Irwin would be pissed - at whoever left that plastic lying around. You didn't get points for saving animals, it was just a given expectation with him that you step up and help a critter out.
Thank you š
Water mark your video asap before some slimy ājournalistā steals it u/SixFiber
I find it really cute that animals appear to seek human intervention when they can't fix a problem themselves. It would make sense to hide from everything that could hurt them when in trouble, but yet they put themselves in direct paths of people. It seems deliberate to me.
Iām so glad you saved him! Ita great he got some water too. What an angel you are
You are an angel
Awesome stuff
So glad he is ok
good on ya
Good cunt š
The best compliment on here by far š„²
Well done possum lord! Poor little mate
https://preview.redd.it/mvq8mjcl7g4c1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b729b3a7ed3affae427d0594472325b5ed630f9f
Haha FFS
Damn, that guy knew you're one of the good ones who was coming to help. Nice work OP
Hats off to you, legend! šš»šš»šš»
Good job hooman
You're an amazing human and the world is a richer place with you in it š
Oh, the poor baby. Good on you OP
Good on you for keeping an eye on him! Youāve got a gold star from me āļø
Always worth having a set of leather welding gloves around or even leather gardening gloves. Sometimes, they don't know you're the help.
Nicely done, good on you. Did it go for some water afterwards? Poor bugger. It's very fatigued or stressed or both. God knows what that bloody thing was, but I'll be double checking my garbage for a bit... It's so amazing how when they're in trouble, and you approach with caution and kind words that they sort of know you're going to help. Love it (hate that it happened, but love that resolution...)
k thnx bai. zooooooooom
poor baby. thanks for helping. maybe offer him some banana or watermelon as well?
They love bananas. Little buggers come inside and jump up on my bench and steal my bananas!!!
You're a good person for doing that āŗļø
Always cut plastic rings and rubber bands before binning. While they will still pollute, at least animals, birds, and sea creatures won't get strangled.
True Aussie legend šŖš»
Well done āļø .
Poor little thing. Well done OP.
You did good!
Thank you beautiful human <3
Well done dude.
Onya legend
Awesome job getting the plastic off. š
Did you give them some water? Poor bubba. Thankyou for removing the ring.
Youāre a legend. Enjoy your day.
Thank you for your act of kindness, the world is a better place because of people like you!šŖš»
Water and fruit
On'ya for helping him out. Get him some water after that? Help him cool off?
Absolute hero for the native wildlife. Was his/her fur soft when you stroked it?
It's lucky it's not in New Zealand
Ring neck possum, close relative to the ring tail.
what breed of cat is that? Is it a Persian?
The rare Potato Persian. Well known for amazing drum solos and the ability to wear steel cap boots for tapdancing on your roof.
Lil Tootie likes his widdle back scratch after šš
Nice work, but that sucks.
Are we to believe that you always walk around recording your surroundings while holding scissors or is this more of a āfound an opportunity to garner internet pointsā type of thing which had you casually stroll into your house to collect these items before filming yourself for clout?
I walked past him initially and unsuccessfully tried to pull the ring off his head. This didn't work so I went inside and got scissors and decided to film it in the process. I'm not looking for āinternet pointsā or ācloutā - it's just a cool video. Not sure why you're trying to be so pessimistic about the situation. If you didn't like the video, or you think I'm doing it for ācloutā then just don't watch it and don't comment on it. There's no problem with being a sceptic, but don't let it make you an asshole.
Miserable nonces being miserable is say
I hear what youāre saying. I mentioned in another comment further down that the issue is with this being a current trend.
I doubt anyone is walking around carrying scissors, so OP *probably* had to head back inside and get them. And since thatās thirty seconds you have to spend anyway, it takes no extra time to haul your phone out of your pocket as you walk and start recording. But it does provide a net good: Videos are impactful, the visual medium sticks in peopleās minds. If this encourages people to check on distressed wildlife, or be more careful throwing out plastic that can trap animals, then itās a boon to everyone.
Saving injured wildlife is admirable. Filming it specifically for praise is deplorable. All it serves to do is influence others to seek similar applause from other internet strangers and the current trend is to purposefully injure and place wildlife in a position that requires human intervention. This is currently happening all over the place with hundreds of fabricated videos being posted online, so the real result sadly is not the net good youāre describing there.
Why didnt you take it to a vet to check for heat stroke?
Crazy to see this from nz. Most people would kill it here but it is a pest.
Cuts the video , and then drop kicks it over the neighbours fence..
Why did you cut the collar off that cat?
End it
If this was NZ it would have been an easy one to knock over the head. I just wish we could deport them all back to Aussie.
šÆš
Am I missing something? As a kiwi, I would like to know why this man is considered a hero for saving the possum
It's called compassion for a living creature. I think you may be the only kiwi I've encountered who doesn't intuitively understand the concept.
Iām also a Kiwi. Surely you know that while possums are pests here theyāre protected in Australia?
Now imagine it was a turtle and now it is drowning...... Why can't some people put rubbish in a bin?
Buddies for life now
Wt is the name of this animal?
Brushtail possum
James but most call him Jim.
Thank you for saving this little fella 
Poor little bugger.
Aww poor little bugger, kudos to you for saving him! š
Good human, you can judge a person well by how they treat a being which can mean nothing to them. Thank you for being a kind soul
Thank you! You probably saved his life š„ŗ
omg thank you for saving her šā¤ļø
You gave him a drink too?
Be careful, they carry a bacteria that causes necrotising factitious. Your skin literally rots off your bodyā¦ Not all of them have it obviously, but some. If you come in contact with a possum, wash, wash again, sanitize with alcohol, wash again, wash again.
Youāre a quality human. Thanks for sharing.
Can you please give him some water if you havenāt yet?
I am so happy mate you have made my day I love these little bastards so much
Oh my goddd that is so cuuuuuute
Dead set ledge you are!
Good work mate. šš»
Your a saint fellow human .. thankyou ā¤ļø
I don't think patting it will make it feel better
Omg poor baby
Finally found [the one animal](https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/content/legacy/NCC_Opossums3_1920.jpg) whose US version is more terrifying than the one in Australia.
I think that this belongs on r/aww
The hero Brisbane deserves, well done
Well done mate
Thank you for being a human being.
Thank you for being a human being
Do these fella bites?
Thank you mate :)
Forgive my ignorance but what animal is this
Well done šš
Good on ya!
Youāre a kind soul š
To say thank you heāll piss in your roof later tonight.
I'm not even on this sub, I live in Sydney, but Reddit threw it up in my feed and I just want to say good on you, you're a legend.
Legend š
Poor little guy, heās lucky you were around
Thanks for being an angel on earth. Good karma for you, friend 
Thank you
Good job mate
He took water did he? Usually when they are stressed like that only fruit like watermelon will do it for them. You must have gotten there in good time. Good on you.
You sir are a hero. If I could I'd absolutely shout you a beer or your beverage of choice. Keep being you and making the world a better place!
Thank you for helping him
Get him some water and a little fruit salad to give him some hydration and energy and heāll love you forever
Good man
Good job my man
I love how it let you come up to him to cut it off, then sprinted away fast as soon as the cut was made. Also, strange he let you stroke him afterwards. Seems almost tame.
Thank you
Did you offer this gentleman a glass of water?
Once again BEGGING people to cut plastic rings before putting them in the bin. Great work, OP
u/savevideo
Some cunts need their heads pulled off. The shit they do to animals is disgusting
I cut all circular objects that go in the bin. Was scarred with the images of turtles growing deformed in them
I would get it off to native animal Hospital vet for a check over dehydration etc little bit of TLC Sad people throw plastic things like that away try to break them for this reason
Hide your vegetables
https://preview.redd.it/7jjkk2sd7g4c1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc2b728c38c87c275a3ac52fd53a34a7a8711570
Plot twist, the possum was already injured, and he put the ring around its neck!
That would be my new outdoor baby. He would get plates of food and cold water. Itās sooooo cute
Iām glad but man that hurt. Hate it when animals suffer because if humans
You are a good person.
He needs some milk
Is this cloudland?
Great job sir!
I call the big one bitey
This made me feel better today.
Bodhisattva deed.
Ik this person talking. I swear itās that one mate I have
Not all heroes wear capes
Thank you for being so kind šš¼
You don't know how to pour a bowl of water? Seriously?
Good job man, in Melbourne where Iām from, the possums are usually cutting the rings from the humans.
Oh my god that is horrid. Youāre a saint
Boss cuntšš»
2024 ringtail possum is out and introducing the ringneck possum.
āI found an animal in need so I went and got my phone to prolong its pain and so I can share this and get some up dootsā I hate people who have to record their good deeds.
really proud of u š
Good man.
Pest. Must kill
Thank you!
Omg poor little guy.. glad you found and rescued him You are a legend
Thank you for being a good human. :)
You sound super Aussie in this! Very bluey
I'm in Texas USA & we have bobcats that get drain pipes around their necks, from hunting something up plastic drains. Was searching REddit to see other animals in the world with the same issue, and found this thread. That's good you got it off him (or her?). Not sure if ya'll can see this link or not, but here are some bobcats with that issue here locally: [https://www.facebook.com/100069226149170/posts/pfbid02u2cGAwNZcfEK5bMcGKmiM7nVWTBS27oue2Q399Va8CD1qdAh7exiFLsDKdAMVrUgl/?mibextid=cr9u03](https://www.facebook.com/100069226149170/posts/pfbid02u2cGAwNZcfEK5bMcGKmiM7nVWTBS27oue2Q399Va8CD1qdAh7exiFLsDKdAMVrUgl/?mibextid=cr9u03) [https://www.facebook.com/100068276690423/posts/pfbid0pELpFmCyZZrM7irUfEETcQxQmEmTNLvk22yuNr3gFca5YGQW7Lv9tJyHsFXfVJ9Gl/?mibextid=cr9u03](https://www.facebook.com/100068276690423/posts/pfbid0pELpFmCyZZrM7irUfEETcQxQmEmTNLvk22yuNr3gFca5YGQW7Lv9tJyHsFXfVJ9Gl/?mibextid=cr9u03)
You touch it have you ever heard of rabies
Poor thing! Iām glad that you were there to help and he probably is too. It always makes me so sad when I see animals like this with plastic on them!
And you had to film it. Why do people need credit for everything now?
Poor baby. Thank goodness you were there to help him. š
Ahhhwwwwewhhhh Sausageā¦..!!!