Atlanta (CNN) A Georgia family got a special holiday surprise last week after finding an owl hiding inside their Christmas tree.

The discovery came last Thursday evening when Katie McBride Newman and her two children, India and Jack, were finishing dinner.

India, 10, had started to clear the table and was in another room when Newman heard her exclaim, "Oh my gosh!"

"She comes very dramatically into the dining room and goes, 'Mama, that ornament scared me,'" Newman told CNN. "Then she bursts into tears."

Newman said she's a big fan of owls, so the tree actually had about a dozen owl ornaments gracing its branches. At first, Newman said she thought India had just been spooked by one of those.

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