Recently, a homeowner in Glenbrook, Australia, was walking through his yard on his way to grab something from his shed when he heard an “unusual scratching sound” coming from a downpipe at the back of his house.
The man lifted the clay cover off the pipe, trying to find the source of the noise. Immediately, he spotted the culprit — a fuzzy wild animal trapped inside.
“[H]e was surprised to find a small possum staring back up at him!” WIRES wrote in a Facebook post.
WIRES
Unsure what to do, the man contacted WIRES Wildlife Rescue, who sent Tracy, an experienced volunteer, to the scene.
On arrival, Tracy examined the house, trying to determine how the possum had gotten stuck. At first, she assumed the possum had fallen down the drainpipe from the roof gutter while crawling along the roof at night.
WIRES
Using a towel, Tracy carefully reached into the pipe and tried to wiggle the possum free. But the scared girl wouldn’t budge.
“[S]he appeared to be firmly stuck and was becoming distressed,” Tracy told The Dodo.
Hoping to calm the possum, Tracy asked the homeowner if he had any fruit or vegetables. The man ran inside and returned with some chopped apples and grapes, which the possum gratefully munched, easing her anxiety.
Tracy tried to extract the possum again. This time, she was less aggressive, but she still wasn’t moving.
The rescuer asked the homeowner where the pipe went. Together, they found its entry point. It turns out, the pipe didn’t descend from the roof, as Tracy originally thought, but rather, it traveled under the yard, out into a creek. The possum hadn’t fallen down. She’d crawled inside and gotten stuck.
“As possums often live in tree hollows, she probably went inside the pipe to investigate but [was] not able to back her way out again over such a long distance,” Tracy said.
With this new information in mind, Tracy dug around the tube’s opening and disconnected the adjoining piece of pipe, allowing the possum space to shimmy out from behind.
WIRES
Finally, she was free.
After a visit to the vet to confirm she was OK, Tracy released the possum into the surrounding wilderness. Meanwhile, the homeowner placed chicken wire over the creek end of the pipe, hoping to avoid future wildlife emergencies.
Tracy is so glad that everything turned out for the best.
“Good outcomes like this one, when our native animals find themselves trapped, are always very rewarding,” Tracy said. “They highlight how the community can help … make a safer world for the wildlife living alongside us.”
To help other animals like this possum, you can donate to WIRES. 
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