(Deadline News)

Unlike many girls her age, Abby Putterill isn't fussy about her hair. In fact, she's more than comfortable with having a small rodent nesting in it.

Putterill, 16, adopted Hammy, a mopane squirrel, two months ago after the tiny animal was found injured and abandoned at Zimbabwe's Bally Vaughan Wildlife Sanctuary, which is owned by Putterill's parents.

The schoolgirl told British media she grew up around animals and that she just let Hammy stay in her ponytail after he climbed in and got comfy one day. Besides sleeping and showering, the pair are virtually inseparable, she said.

Tree squirrels in the region are commonly named mopane squirrels after the leafy African tree that the animals commonly live in.