WHEN it poked its furry head in his kitchen window, Louis Szasz mistook an Aussie critter for one of his cats.

However, he got quite a shock when the Antipodean visitor climbed in through the window and into a houseplant.

After a long chase, the creature was captured and its identity revealed - it was no a cat, but a bush-tailed possum.

And 27-year-old Louis was not the only one to get a shock - the possum got a fright when Louis' cats decided it looked like a tasty meal.

The Australian native marsupial was chased onto the kitchen windowsill before Louis, who works for Southampton-based commercial glasswashers Proton, managed to smother it in a towel and deposit it in a waiting catbox.

Mr Szasz, of Bridge Road, Woolston, said it was like a scene from a comic.

"I was packing shopping away and cleaning the kitchen when a head popped in my kitchen window," he explained.

"At first I thought it was a cat and didn't think too much of it.

"Then one of my cats came into the kitchen to see what the fuss was all about, the animal was scared off.

"I consulted the Internet to find out what the animal was but the closest relative I could find was a ferret.

"After a while I heard another commotion in the kitchen and lots of noise so went to investigate.

"The animal was back - and trying to climb up one of my plants on the kitchen windowsill to escape the cats who were stalking it!

"I managed to capture it by covering it in a towel, then I put it into a cat carrying basket, all the while being scratched and bitten.

"I can't say I blame the poor thing.When something about ten times your size grabs you, you aren't likely to be too happy about it!

"It was like a scene from a comic."

The four-month-old male possum was then taken to the RSPCA's Stubbington Ark animal home.

Unusually, it is not the first time a possum has made a guest appearance in Woolston.

In October 2005 one of the cuddly critters was lured from a tree in Lyndock Place with bananas and grapes.

Natalie Rodgers, of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said that the only explanation for possum spottings in Southampton was that they were escaped pets.

She said: "Possums are not native to this country and they're also nocturnal animals.

"There's no reason why one should be living in Southampton unless it was someone's pet."

Vanessa Eden from Stubbington Ark warned that possums do not make good pets.

She said: "The possum is not up for rehoming because they shouldn't be kept as pets.

"We are investigating who owns the possum, and in the meantime it will stay with us at the Ark."