Omaha (Nebraska/USA) - Animal emergency. This cute possum ate an entire chocolate cake. But the cake thief didn't like it at all.

The volunteers from theNebraska Wildlife Rehab Inc. sanctuary report on the unusual patient on Facebook.

The opossum lady was taken in shortly before Valentine's Day. The marsupial had previously broken into the home of real estate agent Kim Doggett and had eaten an entire chocolate mousse cake, reports CNN.

The astonished homeowner describes how she discovered brown paw prints on the porch. When she went inside, she found the full opossum lying on her new beige sofa, panting. Meanwhile, there were only crumbs left of the cake.

Together with her son Hayden, Kim tried to scare the wild animal away. But in vain. The gopher would not be driven away, the cake was probably too heavy for it. Then mother and son remembered that chocolate is a deadly poison for many animals and contacted an animal welfare hotline. The little possum was picked up and taken to the rescue center.

"It looks like she was very lucky to have been caught in the act," the head of Nebraska Wildlife Rehab told CNN. "So she was able to come to our hospital and be diagnosed with a disease that can be fatal in wildlife."

While chocolate is completely safe for humans - in normal doses - extreme caution is required for many domestic and wild animals. They lack an enzyme that breaks down theobromine, a substance contained in cocoa, in their bodies.

Dogs, cats and horses in particular fall victim to chocolate poisoning time and again.

In any case, the cheeky possum survived its misstep well. It is on the mend and should be released back into the wild as soon as possible, according to the animal friends.

In the meantime, however, the culprit has gone viral. "It is affectionately known as the "Cake Bandit". To mark the "cutest scandal of the week", animal lovers have brought out individually designed T-shirts - also to draw attention to the endangered wildlife of North America.

Opossums, sometimes also called gophers, are the only marsupials in North America. These gentle omnivores are considered "living fossils" and can weigh up to three kilos. If they feel threatened, the animals often play dead.