A New Orleans man lonely for an opossum named Saffron, whom he had raised as a pet and dressed in a colorful sweater, is appealing to authorities to return the animal, which was taken from him by state wildlife officials.
Thousands of people have backed an online petition to reunite the man with his marsupial.
William Voiles, an artist who makes knitted trinkets, said the one-year-old opossum was seized in the city’s French Quarter during Mardi Gras celebrations earlier this month as part of a public safety effort. A friend’s Change.org petition to bring Saffron home had garnered nearly 4,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Voyles, 50, said he and his friends appealed to law enforcement, biologists, veterinarians, online supporters and even Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry for help.
Saffron was part of a menagerie, including a rabbit and two dogs, all named after spices, that Mr. Voiles toured New Orleans on a tricycle with a basket and a trailer.
Most days, Mr. Voyles said, she pedals the animals to a hill above the Mississippi River, where she knits crosses, fleur-de-lis and other items, which she sells to pay for pet food and rent. He and his pets also frequented Cafe Envie in the French Quarter, where customers found Saffron sprawled across Mr. Voiles’ shoulders or curled up in the tricycle basket.
Mr Voiles said he got Saffron last year, six weeks after the death of his longtime companion, a 12-year-old pit bull named Cinnamon.
He said he was on his way to the French Quarter when he spotted a dead opossum on the side of the road, with a joey “crawling on top of it, no bigger than the size of my thumb.”
Baby opossums are born naked and blind, about the size of bees, after a gestation period of just under two weeks.
“He didn’t have his eyes open or anything,” Mr Voyles said. “When I took him, I wasn’t thinking about breaking any law, I was thinking about saving a life.”
Mr. Voiles brought the opossum into the home he shared with a roommate and the other animals, feeding it formula from a bottle.
Law enforcement from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries seized the opossum during a Mardi Gras patrol in the neighborhood, the agency said in a news release.
Agents issued a citation to Mr. Voiles for violating Louisiana Title 56, a law that says four-legged and other wild animals cannot be “taken” without a permit.
Agents also seized a 14.5-foot-long reticulated python, a 10-foot-long reticulated python and a 3-foot-long python from others during Mardi Gras patrols.
Mr. Voiles faces state charges of unlawful possession of the opossum that could result in a fine of up to $500 and 90 days in jail, the agency said.
Mr Voiles said he begged the agents to let him hold Saffron, who was dressed in a blue-green jumper. He argued that the animal would not survive if returned to the wild.
“The first thing he saw was a rabbit, two dogs and me,” Mr Voyles said of the opossum. “She was my little baby.”
He also said the animal poses no danger to humans. Opossums are very resistant to rabies and are less likely to bite or scratch humans than raccoons or raccoons.
“The only time he bit someone was when he was teething,” Mr Voyles said.
After a tip, Mr. Voiles and his friends called the biology department at Louisiana State University in search of Saffron. The people at LSU, after confirming the opossum wasn’t there, suggested they try a field office for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Hammond, a town about 45 miles northwest of New Orleans. He had no luck there, so Mr. Voiles called wildlife rehabilitation centers around the state.
Taylor Brazan, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said that because the case against Mr. Voyles was pending, she was not authorized to say where he was being held.
Mr Voiles said that, as a soldier whose parents worked long hours, he never developed close human relationships but relied on animal companionship.
Saffron wasn’t his first marsupial pet.
While working as a tree trimmer in Alabama, he said he took home several abandoned baby animals, including five or six squirrels, some paluds and an opossum that had wandered into a neighbor’s house.
Mr Voiles said the animals gave him purpose when he struggled with drug addiction and periods of unemployment.
He said Saffron had free reign of the house, but that the opossum tended to sleep in a small box behind the door, waking Mr Voiles at around 3am when he started roaming around.
“I miss waking up next to him,” Mr Voyles said.
