Man dies after getting hit by car while trying to snag opossum from sidewalk

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A man who police say tried to pick up an opossum from a northwest Houston sidewalk has died nearly a week after being hit by a car.

54-year-old Paul Cahill was walking in the 8900 block of North Houston Rosslyn Road on Thursday, Dec. 12 when he lost his balance and fell into the street. That's when he was struck by a gray Pontiac G8, according to a statement from Houston police.

Cahill encountered the animal just before he fell, police said. The opossum tried to bite Cahill during the incident.

Houston police said he was intoxicated when it happened. Cahill was taken to Ben Taub Hospital, where he died Wednesday.

The driver of the Pontiac was questioned and released.

Opossums are the only pouched animals, known as marsupials, found in North America, according to the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service. They're known to be active only at night and are solitary animals.

MORE: Virginia Opossum information from Texas Parks & Wildlife