Woman Leaves Food for Stray Cat, Then Checks Security Cam Footage

A woman who kindly left out food for a stray cat she had seen in the neighborhood later learned that she was feeding a whole "zoo."

TikToker Samantha Rose has gone viral for what showed up on her security camera after leaving out food and told Newsweek it "really happened by accident."

"We wanted to just feed the stray cat at first because we kept seeing him around," she explained.

In a video shared to her TikTok account @samrosess on December 18, Samantha said she "wanted to put out some food and water for one stray cat cause he seemed hungry."

A security camera left by the door picked up her scooping out dry and wet food, as well as putting down a bowl of water and a small cat bed. But after she left, the camera showed exactly who was coming for dinner.

The 50-second video showed that the cat "came and was hungry," as the stray eagerly tucked into the meal "but word must've got out."

Because, after the cat leaves, other visitors arrive with the camera picking up an "entire F-ing zoo".

A woman left out food for a stray cat she had seen in her neighborhood. And while the cat was fed, a few extra visitors came too. A woman left out food for a stray cat she had seen in her neighborhood. And while the cat was fed, a few extra visitors came too. TikTok @samrosess

First up was a skunk, who gratefully devoured some wet food, followed by two opossums, which Samantha humorously labeled big "rats" who apparently "know each other."

Later, the stray cat returns, and patiently waits for one opossum to stop eating before he returns to the food himself. Then a baby opossum shows up alone and helps itself to some of the dry food. And to top it all off, a second cat, an all-black one, strolls up at sunrise, getting a second breakfast.

"Lots of events took place as I was sleeping," Samantha wrote in the video's caption.

Speaking about the multiple animals that showed up on her doorstep, she told Newsweek it was "crazy to see them."

"I think I freaked out—in a good way—because I saw it live when my doorbell notified me."

A skunk and a pair of opossums helped themselves to the meal. One opossum even interacted with the stray feline who allowed it to eat before eating more himself. A skunk and a pair of opossums helped themselves to the meal. One opossum even interacted with the stray feline who allowed it to eat before eating more himself. TikTok @samrosess

Samantha said she never expected her video to go so viral, saying just 5,000 views is "a lot for me".

However, TikTok users loved it, with her video racking up almost 600,000 likes and a whopping 6 million views in a matter of days.

"Now you can never stop feeding them. You're officially Snow White," one user wrote, while one took issue with Samantha's "character assassination of the possums" as she called them big rats.

"I'm dying at the rat comment," another laughed, adding: "Girl those are possums!"

Opossums, often shortened to possums, are the only marsupial found in the United States. They are scavengers and often survive by raiding dumpsters or eating roadkill. However, they will hunt small animals including mice, birds and snakes, according to National Geographic.

One TikTok user was empathetic towards all the animals and wrote: "Poor babies...everyone is hungry. They struggling out here."

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