Opossum on subway surprises NY commuters
(AP Photo/New York Times)
The legendarily jaded early morning commuters on the New York Subway system, notorious for their 'seen it all' attitude, were surprised by the presence of a new kind of passenger last Friday morning – an opossum.
Passengers on the D-train spotted the marsupial underneath a seat next to a radiator at approximately 4.30am and alerted staff. It is believed that the animal boarded the subway some time after the train left its overnight base at Coney Island but before it reached Brooklyn.
The train was duly stopped at West 4th Street Station where NYPD officers with thick gloves attempted to remove it. However, the opossum bared its teeth at the officers, who are equipped with pistols, batons and body armour and are trained in self defence, in a manner that evidently made them fear for their safety. They elected to retreat to a safe distance and a team from New York Animal Care and Control (NYAC&C) were called in instead. The NYAC&C team boarded the train at the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, captured the marsupial, and removed it from the train.
This is the first time that an opossum has been spotted on the NYC Subway, which is the busiest subway system in the Americas, and its presence was somewhat curious in nature given that the species usually prefers to live above ground in forested areas. However, they have been known to go below ground in search of warmth or food and a spokesman for the Bronx Zoo said 'It's not surprising that one would wander into a train because they are so comfortable living around people. It might have been drawn to the train by heat, or the smell of food.'
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
