Woman discovers possum living inside her stove

A woman was shocked to discover a possum had taken up residence inside her stove.

Jackie Felix, 28, was enjoying a quiet day in her apartment in Union City, California, USA, when she noticed an unusual smell coming from the kitchen.

Jackie first thought it was the trash and took it out.

But when the stench lingered, she knew something was wrong.

She pulled the appliance out from the wall and discovered a massive pile of poo on the floor.

Jackie shone a light into the cracks of the back of the stove and immediately saw the marsupial's little pink nose.

It is unclear how long it had been living inside the stove but Jackie thinks it was at least several days.

Jackie, who works for New Mexico's health department, said: "I have no idea how long the possum was in there.

"Based off the poo it would have been at least a week.

"I'm not sure how it survived but it seemed pretty healthy once we got a chance to look at it."

Jackie and her roommates attempted to get the possum out of the stove and out of the house for about two hours before they were successful.

Jackie said: "We took off the stove's top and had to push as hard as we could.

"My roommates then continued to push the stove top up whilst I waited with gloves on to catch the possum once it got out.

"But when it raced out it just jumped right through my hands and ran behind the washing machine."

Jackie and her two flatmates lured the possum out with food and were able to capture it in glass jar before releasing it outside.

In hindsight, Jackie realises there had been clues during the week leading up to discovering the possum.

She said: "The oven makes a ringing sound whenever it gets hit, which we heard a few times earlier in the week.

"I live in a house with six cats and currently two foster kittens so I always just assumed it was the cats making the noise.

"The smell was what really made me think something was wrong.

"At first I thought someone has spilt some oil but as I pulled the stove back, I just saw more and more poop.

"I knew immediately that there must be something like a possum living in the stove."

Jackie didn't see the possum come into the house or into the stove but she's positive that the animal entered the house through their back door cat flap.

She said: "We didn't get it on camera or anything but that must have been the way it got in.

"I now make sure that cat flap is locked at all times.

"It means my cats have to be let in and out manually but it's worth it to not have that happen again.

"I have obviously done a deep, deep clean of the stove with the gas turned off since and I couldn't find any poop inside the actual appliance."