Woman hears rustling in Christmas tree, finds raccoon inside

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Around 4 a.m., Aubrey Iacobelli was awoken by a rustling coming from her Christmas Tree.

Her eager dog fixated on what she thought might have been a cat who had some how managed to find its way into her home via the tree.

“No, that’s not a cat...” Iacobelli proclaimed in a video she uploaded to Facebook, which showed her spraying the tree with a water bottle yelling “C’mon! Get out!”

“An early surprise waiting for me in the Christmas Tree this morning," she wrote on social media. 

After a close and careful inspection of her Christmas tree and a warning to the intruder — “Out! Before I let out the dogs!” — things immediately took a turn when she realized the “cat” was in fact an enormous raccoon.

Within seconds, the wild raccoon lunged at Iacobelli’s dog, knocking over the Christmas tree and causing both Iacobelli and her dog to retreat. 

Nearly an hour after the animal’s discovery, the raccoon could be seen hanging from a ceiling light fixture before being chased around the house, refusing to leave until Iacobelli was finally able to fend off the animal with a broom. 

“And that was my Thursday morning,” Iacobelli said, recalling the incident following the raccoon’s departure.

She explained that her dog suffered only minor injuries: a few scratches. She said her vet thought it was hilarious and the raccoon ended up back in the forest where it belonged.