069 — Meatball
An opossum was found loose in Juneau, Alaska. This was unexpected. Opossums do not live in Alaska. Alaska is not where opossums go. Researchers, officials, and the general public are in agreement on this.
The opossum had arrived on a north-bound cargo ship. He did not purchase a ticket. He did not file the required paperwork for invasive species transport. (There is required paperwork for this. Alaska takes it seriously.) He was just there, in Juneau, presumably surprised.
Jordan Bales with Juneau Animal Rescue received the call.
"In my mind, I'm not thinking it's an opossum," Bales said. "I'm like, maybe it's a seal point cat or something."
This is a reasonable assumption. Seal point cats are common in Juneau. Opossums that have shipped themselves to Alaska on cargo vessels are less so.
They found him. He did not resist. He did not hiss. He walked into the trap. Rescuers named him Chester.
Chester was taken to the Alaska Zoo. The Alaska Zoo renamed him Meatball.
This is where the story gets more complicated.
The Alaska Zoo previously had an opossum. Her name was Grubby. Grubby also arrived in Alaska by stowing away on a boat. (I want to be clear that this has now happened twice. Two opossums. Two boats. Two unilateral decisions to relocate to Alaska without documentation. The Alaska Zoo is tracking this.)
Grubby died in 2025.
"We were all pretty excited that we were going to get another opossum at the zoo," said Sam Lavin of the Alaska Zoo. "Grubby left a hole when she left us."
Meatball — formerly Chester — is settling in. He appears a bit nervous, according to the zoo. He has a healthy appetite for apples and chicken-flavored cat food.
He stowed away on a cargo ship, traveled to a state where his species is invasive, was renamed twice (Chester, then Meatball), and is now eating chicken-flavored cat food in a zoo exhibit where Grubby used to live.
The Alaska Zoo has not changed its intake procedures. The cargo ships are still running.
Juneau, Alaska / Alaska Zoo. March 31, 2026.