Police in Germany have 'rescued' a man who called them up to tell them that a baby squirrel wouldn't leave him alone.
Yes, you read that right. On Thursday, a man in Karlsruhe genuinely called the police to alert them to the fact that a tiny, cute squirrel was chasing him down the road and wouldn't let him be.
So, out came the patrol car and the officers to investigate the developing situation. They found that the squirrel was still chasing the man, until it eventually ran out of steam and then fell asleep.
As far as high-speed police chases go, this sounds like one of the most adorable ones you'll ever stumble across.
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The coppers reckon that the young squirrel got separated from its mother and began to try to latch onto the poor guy as a method of finding a new home.
A police spokesperson - who is also apparently some sort of squirrel expert - said: "It often happens that squirrels which have lost their mothers look for a replacement and then focus their efforts on one person."
They went on to explain that squirrels can sometimes be 'very persistent, not just running behind someone, but entirely fixated on them'.
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"It can be pretty scary. The man didn't know what to do and so he called the police. He was certainly feeling a bit threatened," they said.
It sounds terrifying.
Luckily, the police took pity on the squirrel and have taken it under their wing. They've even given it a name - Karl Friedrich.
In fact, the police seemed pretty amused by the whole thing, Obviously, given that an emergency phone call had been made to them, they had to write the incident up. Whoever did the write up saw the funny side too. They wrote: "A squirrel will be our new mascot, it will be christened Karl-Friedrich.
"The squirrel has fallen asleep in fright."
The spokesperson, Christina Krenz, continued: "It was just a bit of fun. The officers thought up a name that would suit the baby squirrel."
The good news is that Karl Friedrich is doing well and was passed from police custody into an animal rescue centre. He's going to be fine, even if he has lost his mother.
As it happens, the animal rescue centre said that it was also looking after another two squirrels who had become separated from their mum, although was at pains to say that the other two hadn't had the same run-in with the law as Karl.
Featured Image Credit: Karlsruhe PoliceTopics: Police, World News, Germany, Animals