{"id":271978,"date":"2026-02-07T07:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T07:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271978\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T07:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T07:10:09","slug":"couple-sees-strange-naked-creature-run-across-the-yard-then-realize-what-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271978\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple Sees Strange, Naked Creature Run Across The Yard \u2014 Then Realize What It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, Kenneth Kick and his wife, Paige, couldn\u2019t believe their eyes when an unusual wild animal came sprinting across their yard. As dedicated volunteers with the Wildlife Foster Program (WFP)<\/a>, they\u2019re always on the lookout for animals in need \u2014 and this giant, hairless, rodent-like creature immediately caught their attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey couldn\u2019t believe what they saw,\u201d WFP wrote on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cThen came winter, and she was never seen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facebook\/Wildlife Foster Program<\/p>\n

Kenneth and Paige spent the next few months searching for the naked opossum around their neighborhood, sadly to no avail. While winters in Anaheim, California, aren\u2019t as frigid as in other parts of the county, they still feared that the helpless and hairless animal wouldn\u2019t survive the cold.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until months later, in January 2026, that Kenneth and Paige heard of her again. The couple was enjoying dinner with WFP\u2019s founder, Debra Jo Chiapuzio, when they suddenly received an unexpected message from their neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir neighbor texted saying they had seen her again!\u201d WFP wrote.<\/p>\n

Facebook\/Wildlife Foster Program<\/p>\n

The rescuers rushed back to Kick\u2019s home and scoured the property, hoping to finally capture the opossum. But by the time they\u2019d arrived, she\u2019d already run away.<\/p>\n

Defeated, the group eventually disbanded. Chiapuzio returned home while Kenneth and Paige settled in for the evening. Then, at 3 a.m., their phone\u2019s ring jolted them awake.<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he neighbors [said] they got her!\u201d WFP wrote.<\/p>\n

Facebook\/Wildlife Foster Program<\/p>\n

Everyone was elated. After months of searching, the poor opossum was finally safe, and they drove her to WFP\u2019s headquarters first thing the following morning to ensure her survival.<\/p>\n

When the couple dropped off the opossum at WFP, they said she resembled a chupacabra. So, her caregivers gave her the perfect name: Chewy.<\/p>\n

You can see more footage of Chewy\u2019s rescue here:<\/p>\n

Shortly after her arrival, Chiapuzio thoroughly examined Chewy and developed a theory about her hair loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes she have alopecia? While opossums do get that, it’s not always my first go to,\u201d WFP wrote. \u201cFirst, alopecia usually presents as patchy hair loss. Her skin is not wrinkly, which often is a [telltale sign] as well. However, dermatitis, parasites, malnutrition, and stress can also cause this condition. Just to name a few.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facebook\/Wildlife Foster Program<\/p>\n

It was unclear exactly what caused Chewy to lose her hair, but she\u2019d thankfully landed in the right place. The sweet girl quickly acclimated to her new surroundings and grew stronger each day.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the incubator and the shirt that kept her warm, and to the small but delicious meals Chiapuzio regularly fed her, Chewy survived the impossible. And she began to thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cChewy is eating kitten chow!\u201d WFP wrote on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cAnd tomorrow she starts on fresh veggies.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see Chewy eat dinner while wearing her shirt here:<\/p>\n

By the end of the month, Chewy had grown strong enough to be transferred to a kennel outdoors, where she\u2019s been ever since.<\/p>\n

The resilient girl has a long recovery journey ahead, as her fur is still missing and she\u2019s still battling a list of physical ailments, but her rescuers are beyond hopeful that she will pull through.<\/p>\n

Facebook\/Wildlife Foster Program<\/p>\n

Chiapuzio, Kenneth and Paige are all counting down the days until Chewy\u2019s triumphant return to the wild, hopefully sporting a new warm coat. They\u2019re taking each day with Chewy as it comes, but they remain devoted to her survival and look forward to her eventual release.<\/p>\n

\u201c[W]e are feeling very optimistic about her!\u201d WFP wrote on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To keep up with Chewy\u2019s progress, you can follow Wildlife Foster Program on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To help animals like Chewy get the care they need, you can donate to Wildlife Foster Program here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"They<\/a>They Thought This Owl Was ‘Dead’ In A Soccer Net \u2014 Then They Saw A Flutter\u201cThis sassy girl is one of the lucky ones \u2026\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, Kenneth Kick and his wife, Paige, couldn\u2019t believe their eyes when an unusual wild animal came…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[52261,1176,1178,111,139,69,147,1177,1175,406,31132,27544],"class_list":{"0":"post-271978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animal-rescue","9":"tag-ashley-ortiz","10":"tag-daily-dodo","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-standard","16":"tag-the-dodo","17":"tag-wildlife","18":"tag-wildlife-encounters","19":"tag-wildlife-rescue"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}