London Woman Thinks She’s Being Robbed, Police Find Squirrel In House

One would be quite terrified to wake up to strange noises coming from the first floor of their house. Many horrible thoughts would pop into a person’s head, most of which involve someone evil invading their private space, such as a burglar, murderer, or rapist.

A woman in North West London’s Harrow section experienced this scary scenario firsthand on the morning of Thursday, July 12, according to GetWestLondon.

Upon hearing odd noises coming from downstairs around 9 a.m., she immediately called the police for help.

“The female caller was very distressed and called 999 [the emergency number in the United Kingdom] as she heard noises downstairs and believed she was being burgled,” said a spokesman with the Harrow Borough Police, reported GetWestLondon.

The cops quickly arrived at her house on Byron Hill Road and were very surprised when they found the noisemaker.

“Turned out the ‘suspect’ was a rogue squirrel,” revealed the Harrow Police on Twitter.

Somehow the resourceful rodent had caused quite a ruckus after entering the woman’s residence without her permission.

Police said several items in the kitchen had been knocked over, causing quite “a mess.”

“The squirrel wasn’t arrested and was released with no charges,” stated Harrow Police’s spokesman.

Officers from #harrowAteam called to an address in #harrow, the occupant could hear noises from downstairs and believed she was being burgled. Turned out the “suspect” was a rogue squirrel ? pic.twitter.com/Y9ozBG8hpX

— Harrow MPS | North West BCU (@MPSHarrow) July 12, 2018

Oddly, this wasn’t the only squirrel making headlines this week.

In Morganton, North Carolina, a squirrel attack left about 1,700 residents powerless on the morning of Friday, July 13, according to News Herald.

The power outage lasted about 35 minutes and two switches had to be replaced.

“Each [switch] is a different phase of voltage,” Brooks Kirby, the electric services director of Morganton, told the News Herald. “The squirrel got between two phases of voltage and burned itself up.”

This was the second time in two months that a squirrel had knocked out the city’s power.

“It happens a lot every year,” said Kirby. “It’s getting to be a nuisance. It has been for years.”

Squirrels belong to the Sciuridae family, which also includes prairie dogs, chipmunks, and marmots, noted Live Science.

There are more than 200 species of the territorial animal, and they can be found on every continent except for Australia and Antarctica.

“On average, squirrels eat about one pound of food per week,” reported Live Science. “Squirrels are omnivores, which means they like to eat plants and meat. Squirrels mainly eat fungi, seeds, nuts, and fruits, but they will also munch on eggs, small insects, caterpillars, small animals, and even young snakes.”

In the United States, National Squirrel Appreciation Day is Jan. 21.