Pet Squirrel Attacks Burglar, Receives Whoppers Candy As Reward

Who knew security squirrels were a thing?! Nuts, we know, but a rowdy rodent named Joey used physical force to fight off a burglar who broke into his owner's home in Meridian, Idaho. Adam Pearl, the squirrel's owner, told local station KIVI-TV he knew "something was awry" when he arrived home and saw snowy footprints leading to the back of his house.

After receiving a warm welcome inside from Joey, Pearl said, he noticed there were doors open that he hadn't left ajar. He then made his way to a back bedroom where he saw that his gun safe had scratches around its lock — presumably from someone unauthorized trying to open it.

"At that point, I knew somebody was definitely in here messing around," Pearl told KIVI. He proceeded to call the police, and when Officer Ashley Turner came to investigate the scene, Joey greeted her in a friendly manner.

"Joey had run in the bedroom, just kind of screwing around like he always does, [and ran] between her legs and kind of startled [Officer Turner]," said Pearl. "And she says, 'Whoa, what was that?' I said, 'Ah, don't worry about that — that's just Joey, my pet squirrel.'"

Turner asked if Joey bit people, to which Pearl replied rather honestly, "Well, he usually doesn't bite, but you never know — 'cause he is a squirrel."

A few hours later, Turner returned to Pearl's home bringing a few of his stolen belongings and a rave review of Joey's watch-squirrel skills. After asking about scratches on the suspect's hand, the individual confirmed that Pearl's squirrel had attacked him — and wouldn't stop doing so until he left the home!

"Nobody can believe it," Pearl told KIVI-TV with a laugh, "because who can say they have a squirrel that guards their house? You can't ask for much more than that!"

Job well done, Joey. We're impressed, too, but don't run to the backyard in search of your own security squirrel just yet. They are, after all, wild animals — and as cute as they may be, they typically don't make good pets.

Mary Cummins, the president of a non-profit animal rescue in California called Animal Advocates, strongly discourages anyone from trying to domesticate one. On her website, she acknowledges that "[b]aby squirrels are the sweetest and cutest things you have probably ever seen" and that it's "basic human instinct to want to care for such a cute little baby." So what's the problem? Well, those baby squirrels have to grow up.

"Their gentle nibbles turn to painful bites when their teeth are fully grown," Cummins explains. And once they "become sexually mature," she points out that they "can become even more aggressive, possessive and jealous."

Perhaps Joey was feeling a bit possessive of his turf when that burglar popped in. In his case, those scratches seemingly did a good thing and sent the bad guy running. In other instances, though, injuries caused by animals can get infected and often require medical treatment. As WebMD notes, in many cases when an animal breaks the skin, a tetanus shot, rabies prevention or a round of antibiotics is needed.

There's also the fact that there are places where it's illegal to keep a squirrel as a pet. As VETz Insight points out, the regulations around rodent ownership vary from state to state, but many do require a permit or the owner to have wildlife training in order to legally keep the squirrel.

Even wild squirrels can, in rare instances, be problematic to people. In 2007, a squirrel attacked a 3-year-old boy on a playground in Florida. According to NBC's Orlando affiliate WESH 2, the child had to be hospitalized, and a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and another adult were also injured. Then in 2016, a rogue squirrel attacked seniors at a retirement community in Florida. Per the Orlando Sentinel, the squirrel went after one person outdoors then made its way inside and attacked three more.

We say all this, of course, not to knock Joey's heroic actions, but to dissuade others from thinking a squirrel might be a good option for home protection or a family pet. No need to worry about this particular super squirrel, though: Joey's owner told KIVI-TV that he was being handsomely rewarded with Whoppers candy, his favorite treat.

First Photo Credit: likeaduck via Flickr