Intruder ‘pulling’ on woman’s backdoor in North Carolina was a wild animal, cops say

A 911 call about someone trying to break into a North Carolina woman’s home took an odd turn when Greenville Police instead caught an opossum outside the door.

Photos the police department shared March 18 on Facebook show the culprit was neck-deep in trash — and apparently enjoying itself.

Officers took to calling the suspect “Frank” for reasons not explained. Greenville is about 80 miles east of Raleigh.

“The caller believed someone was pulling on her back door handle in an attempt to get in. Officers arrived on scene and quickly located the suspect hiding in a bag of trash,” the department wrote.

“After a fierce round of questioning, it was determined Frank the opossum was simply trying to get a snack. He was informed of his rights and released back into the wild.”

The department’s Facebook post has more than 1,400 reactions and comments, many from people noting exposed trash bags are a buffet for opossums. The cat-sized creatures are notorious for three things: Eating garbage, pretending to be dead (playing ‘possum) and getting hit by cars.

Police did not say how Frank was captured, but an opossum often poops and releases “a foul-smelling greenish substance from its anal glands” when grabbed by predators, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

They are immune to snake venom and “feed on copperheads, rattlesnakes and cottonmouth snakes with minimal risk of injury or death from the venom,” the commission says.

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Intruder ‘pulling’ on woman’s backdoor in North Carolina was a wild animal, cops say."