RSPCA Queensland officer helped the sweet-toothed possum while trying to avoid getting scratched by its claws

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Queensland’s RSPCA helpline gets many unusual calls, but this was stranger than most – a possum with its head stuck in a Nutella jar.

The organisation was alerted to the situation by a man in Loganholme, south of Brisbane, whose dog was showing a keen interest in the wheelie bins.

“The man looked around the back of the shed near the garbage bin and there was the possum with his head caught,” BRSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told the ABC.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sweet-toothed possum in a blanket. Photograph: RSPCA Queensland

“It managed to get his head in the jar, but obviously couldn’t get it out. They were worried he may be badly dehydrated, they didn’t know how long he had been caught in the jar.”

Beatty said possums are no strangers to getting into unusual difficulties. “I’ve seen some stuck under stairs, and occasionally they might be trapped in a drain or something like that,” he said.

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Chantel Sibilla was the RSPCA wildlife officer who went to the rescue of the chocolate-loving marsupial.

“You know you have a problem when you end up in a situation like that,” she told the Jimboomba Times.

Sibilla put towels around the possum so she could get him out of the jar without getting scratched by his claws.



Once freed, the creature was taken to the RSPCA’s native wildlife hospital for a check up.

The possum was later released into the wild close to where it was found.