Pizza Rat Is Dead, Long Live Pizza Possum

In the realm of small animals competing for internet fame, a new contender has emerged: the Pizza Possum.

It all started with Pizza Rat, a subway-crawling New York City rodent chowing down on a slice of pizza too big. Then came Doughnut Raccoon, and soon after, Pizza Squirrel. Since then, it’s been a brave, new world — one with hamsters in Pizza Rat costumes and humans in sexy Pizza Rat costumes, not to mention a minor league baseball team that wants to call itself the Staten Island Pizza Rats.

Melanie Dinjaski, a journalist and producer at Fox Sports Australia, was at a friend’s birthday party when a pair of possums — the Australian variety, not to be confused with the not-nearly-as-adorable American opossum — decided to crash the festivities and grab a bite to eat.

"We basically just stood out of the way and watched it, and then it just hopped up onto the table, and made a move for a pizza slice," Dinjaski told The Huffington Post Australia. "We started moving the food away, but he didn't flinch the whole time, it just held onto that pizza slice."

Naturally, given the magnitude of their discovery, selfies were snapped with their new pepperoni-loving friend.

Here’s a video of the possum in all its pizza-eating glory:

• Move Over Pizza Rat, Pizza Possum Is Here to Take Your Throne [HuffPo]
• Pizza-Loving Rat Brings His Slice on the Subway [E]
• Move Over, Pizza Rat, Doughnut Raccoon Is Here [E]
• More IDK [E]