Caitlin Burch, along with her husband, have two creative daughters, aged 9 and 6.
And while they know their kids have an active imagination — something happened one night, a few months back that struck them as odd.
Burch’s younger daughter came to to her to say how she saw an animal walking around in the bedroom she shares with her sister. But the child’s description of the creatures seemed to be made up.
“She showed us with her hands the size of it and said it was fluffy,” Burch shared with The Dodo. “My husband and I both looked in their room, but didn’t see anything.”
As you can imagine, both Burch and her husband were curious — as they believed something as big as their daughter described surely wouldn’t escape their attention. Or so they thought…
“Her story was as plausible to us as her complaining about monsters under her bed,” Burch said.
And while it seemed all was well with the girls — three nights later, her eldest daughter woke up Burch at 3 a.m. in a panic — sharing how she had seen the creature too.
“My husband walked over to their room to check it out,” Burch said. “When he came back, he very casually got dressed and said, ‘She’s right.'”
The girls were right, the creature was alive — and very real. Hidden in a box of pens in the girls’ closet was a chubby opossum.
And while he was not invited to stay, he clearly had made himself at home.
Burch’s disbelief at her daughter’s pleas caused her to feel horrified.
“If I had known that was in the house, we all would have been staying in a hotel,” she said.
Thankfully, the opossum did not put up much a fight when Burch’s husband carried him into their yard to let him go.
You could say he was ready to check out — despite the next morning still hanging around.
The opossum decided that a tree out back was the next best thing to a box of pens.
“Possums are terrestrial animals. This means that almost all their time is spent on the ground and not in trees. If they are seen climbing up into trees, it would be because they are either escaping a predator or they are searching for food.” according to Wild Life Education.
While it is unclear how exactly the opossum got inside the girls’ room or how long it had been there — he was sure not to disturb the kids.
“Generally, possums live in wooded areas or near them…Possums will also search and take cover in sheds or in old buildings, in the cavities within rocks, in brush piles, in hollow trees, or even fallen logs. When they find shelter, they will carry nesting material into it.” the Wild Life Education site states.
Maybe they should now add artistic materials to the list?
But despite the alarm — the kids have since become major advocates.
“Now they’re huge possum fans,” Burch said. “They both got possum stuffed animals for Christmas and they love them.”
“It’s a great story for them (and us) to tell forever,” Burch said.
NOW WATCH: Sweden Actually Turns It’s Garbage Into Energy | Save The World