A West Philly opossum named Gary was recently featured on local NBC News dressed in his holiday finest.

We got curious and asked West Philly resident Katy DiSanto how she ended up adopting Gary.

“He was orphaned along with his litter during the heat wave back in August; sadly only he and one of his sisters survived,” she wrote. “Their eyes weren’t open yet and they had no fur.”

“They had to be bottle fed for a couple weeks, and then I took over feeding him formula until he could eat “regular food.” His sister went with a lady who does educational things, and the licensed rescue who was caring for him secured the proper paperwork … so he could come live with us.” 

Gary is fully dependent on humans and never learned how to “properly” be an opossum.

“He’s not like a wild opossum (which people shouldn’t have in their house anyway),” says Katy.

If you like the idea of a West Philly opossum spreading holiday cheer you can buy holiday cards featuring Gary. Proceeds from sales will go to the Schuylkill Wildlife Rescue.

Here’s the NBC News video: