This.

Possum (Large).jpg

Yes indeed it is a possum. The machine had been in storage for 3 years in a country shed. It was brought home by removalists, who had it standing up in their truck. I played a few games and then my daughter who I guess was at the right height noticed movement when I opened the coin door. We got it out with a broom, at which point it made a dash for the nearest open door to the outside world. Unfortunately possums are very territorial and being 100km from home, it wouldn't have had too many mates around.
There was no possum poo inside so he must have only been there a short time before the machine was picked up by the removalists. I just don't know how he squeezed into the back, the backboard was down and there's only a tiny hole back there. I was very glad that he hadn't done any damage.

Possums are actually different animals to opossums and are indigenous to Australia. According to Wikipedia, when stressed, the North Amterican opossum secretes a foul smelling fluid from its anal gland.
I'm very glad I had the Australian version.

Any more strange things found in pinball machines?