Opossum Breaks Up The Day For New Yorkers

EV Grieve has a funny write-up and pictures of how 40 people lingered around not-yet-opened Madison Avenue restaurant Serge because an opossum was hanging around outside. (They are called opossums in the Western Hemisphere and possums in the Eastern.) Police officers create a makeshift barrier using folding chairs and mail crates. EV Grieve described the atmosphere, "So we all stood around like a bunch of dopes while the police officers figured out the best method of humanely trapping the possum. That left people time to theorize. 'How do you think he got here?' Well, said one man, 'I've seen possum in the Bronx.' Another man chimed in, 'I bet he took the subway!'" The opossum was rescued and, we assume, taken to Animal Care & Control. Back in 2004, ACC's director called opossums, "urban wildlife - wildlife that have adapted to an urban environment." The creatures are nocturnal and live in trees, so that's probably why we don't see them more often.