From Paws Animal Wildlife Sanctuary

Here's your smile for the day! This is our precious Gunter, a non-releasable opossum, sound asleep after his daily cage cleaning and feeding. Opossums are wonderful creatures when they feel safe and aren't scared and feeling like they have to defend themselves.

Gunter came to us scared and in bad shape until he realized that all we wanted to do was care for him, (and love on him, once we knew he couldn't be released).

Gunter has a very important job at PAWS now. He has agreed to allow our new volunteers to touch him so they can learn about opossums. He's so good at his job that he has changed the hearts of many opossum-fearing new volunteers!

And he does that by doing exactly what you see him doing in this photo.....sleeping like a rock, even with our new volunteers touching him....because he feels safe.... and because he loves being petted.

If he can't be wild and free, then we love that we can spoil him and give him a new purpose in life.