Pet Squirrel Stops Home Robbery And Helps Identify The Thief [Video]

• Squirrels are known for their fluffy tail and swift tree-climbing skills and not for being guard pets.
• Joey the squirrel proved that he’s one guard pet as he attacked an intruder and scratched his arms, leaving police officers to identify him.
• His dad, Adam Pearl said that the incident may have triggered a behavioral change in Joey and prompted him to go live out into the wild. 

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Not anybody can boast that their pet squirrel stopped a burglar from stealing things from their house.  But Adam Pearl certainly can as his pet squirrel Joey attacked the intruder and scratched his hands!  The scratches on his hands led the police to positively identify him as the culprit.  

Adam was not expecting such behavior from the animal that he found in his yard and took care of.  Joey was just a Bic lighter-sized baby whose eyes were still not open when he rescued the squirrel. Adam bottle-fed him until he could feed on his own. He also made sure that while he took care of the squirrel’s needs, Joey would also learn to survive in the wild and forage for food.

For Joey, his home is his sanctuary. The intruder triggered his protective instincts. Joey would simply not have his home invaded. He attacked with all his might, stopping the man from taking anything of his dad’s belongings.

When Adam reached home, he immediately called the police to report that his home was broken into. And during the investigation, the police officers noticed that the man was covering the scratches on his arm.  They questioned him, “‘did you get that from a squirrel?’” And the man said yes.  The man added that the squirrel would not stop attacking him.  He just had to leave.

Adam said, “Nobody can believe it because who can say they have a squirrel that guards their house? Which is crazy. You can’t ask for much more than that.”

The incident changed Joey.  Adam said, “He’d let anybody pet him when he was in the house.” He added, “I guess right up until the kid broke in. Right after that is when he started getting aggressive.”

And in June, Joey climbed on Adam’s shoulder, stayed for a while and then disappeared into an apple tree and beyond into the wild.

University of Idaho scientist Janet Rachlow said that squirrels really do change their behavior and it could also have been brought on by the changing of the seasons.

Whatever brought on the change, we hope he visits his dad every now and then.

Way to go, Joey!

Source: Inspire More