Texas woman finds opossum lounging in her Christmas tree

Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A Texas woman had an early holiday surprise when she found an opossum hiding in the branches of her Christmas tree.

A video posted to TikTok by brettbratt359 shows the opossum hiding inside the adorned tree inside the woman's home.

The woman said in a follow-up video that she does not know how the animal got inside her home, as no doors had been left open.

She said she heard noises after arriving home from work, but initially thought they were coming from one of her three dogs or her cat.

She eventually got up to investigate the sounds and saw a "long rat tail" sticking out from her tree.

The woman donned rubber gloves and attempted to pull the animal from out of the tree, but it was clinging tightly to a branch. She was able to pull the opossum free, but it broke from her grasp and fled under a couch.

The animal fled from furniture item to furniture item until the woman was able to "tackle him like an NFL football player."

The woman said the opossum, which she was able to carry outside, was not mean or aggressive during the encounter, just skittish.

"As an animal lover... I probably would have kept it if it didn't smell so horrid," the woman said.