‘Literally freaking out’: Woman finds live possum in her Christmas tree

A live possum managed to sneak in and hide inside a Christmas tree among decorations and baubles.

A woman was shocked to find an extra decoration on her Christmas tree — a live animal hiding among the branches.

Tiktoker Brett, from California, shared a video of her unusual discovery, finding a possum hiding in her faux snow tree between the baubles and tinsel.

“I am literally freaking out right now,” she said

“I have no idea how this possum got in my house and up into my tree and I’m trying to get it out but it will not let me and I just don’t know what to do.

“I don’t know how it got in here, I don’t leave my doors open,” she explained.

The possum can be seen sitting calmly deep inside the Christmas tree, looking back at the woman.

The possum was hiding inside the Christmas tree. Picture: @brettbratt359/TikTok

The video quickly went viral racking up more than 4.2 million views, with thousands of people flocking the comment section expressing their shock.

“What?!?! That's crazy,” a person wrote, as another chimed in, “Girl, I’d pack my suitcase and just let him have the tree and the house.”

“Santa gave you an early present,” a person joked, adding a laughing emoji to the comment.

“No way I could be this chill with something in my tree!” a woman expressed.

One user wrote: “New fear unlocked!!”

In a follow up video, Brett also shared a close-up of the possum and said, “Hey little buddy. How did you get in my house and into my tree without me noticing?”

“You’re really cute but I don’t know what to do.”

She later explained how a series of sneezes lead to her discovering the possum and later removing it from her home.

“I heard a sneeze. I looked over and I have three dogs and a cat, so I figured one of them was there, but they weren't there,” she said.

“So I thought maybe I’m crazy and kept working.”

“Then I heard it again but a little louder and some other noises and I got up and I started looking to see if my cat was stuck behind the couch or something or sleeping in the window,” she continued.

The woman explained how she removed the possum. Picture: @brettbratt359/TikTok

The possum can hardly be seen between the tree branches. Picture: @brettbratt359/TikTok

“But as I was looking around I see this really big, long-looking rat tail and I just kind of stop because I was in shock. I didn’t know what it was.”

The woman did not expect to find a “giant breathing ball of fur” inside her tree and grabbed some rubber gloves to remove the animal.

“I get the gloves and I grab around his body and I start trying to pull him out of the tree,” she said.

“Well, they have hands and he was holding on for dear life to this Christmas tree and no matter how hard I try to pull him he wasn’t coming off.”

Brett explained it took about 10 minutes to remove the possum, as it was scared and fled the tree to hide under the couch several times after she finally managed to get a hold of it.

“I moved the couch with all my force and just went for it and tackled him like an NFL football player and got him and calmed him down,” she said.

She explained she tried to contact Animal Control, but “they didn’t come after hours, it’s a small town,” so she was able to let the possum outside herself.

“As an animal lover with three dogs, two snakes and a bearded dragon and a cat, I probably would have kept it if it didn’t smell so horrid,” she joked.

The woman mentioned she will be purchasing a possum ornament to remember the unusual encounter.