To make their homes safer, some families might choose to get a home security system or possibly a guard dog, but all Adam Pearl needed to keep his home safe was a pet squirrel named Joey.
But Joey was not an animal that had been plucked from the wild. Adam had found Joey when the squirrel was a newborn after the little one had fallen from his nest.
Adam worried that the little one would die without care, so he took the baby squirrel into his home. For days, Adam fed Joey every two hours until he began to recover.
Within a few months, Joey was running around his new home, using the litterbox and munching on nuts from a bowl. “His temperament is kind of like a cat,” Adam said. “When he wants attention, he’ll run up to you and climb up your leg.”
But as it turned out, Joey was no “scaredy cat.” When a burglar broke into Adam’s home and tried to break into his gun case, Joey stood his ground and attacked the thief until the man ran away.
Shortly afterward, the police tracked down the suspect and confirmed their suspicions when the man admitted that the scratches on his hands came from a squirrel. According to reports, the officers also found Adam’s property on the suspect.
Adam was as flabbergasted as everyone else seemed to be. “No one can believe it because who can say they have a squirrel that guards their house, which is crazy,” said Adam. “I can’t ask for more than that. He’s a pain in the butt, but he’s great.”
