Hundreds of people in central Hamilton were without power Friday morning — thanks to a squirrel that likely met his untimely end.

Alectra Utilities spokesperson John Freisen said about 700 customers were without power for around 45 minutes after the squirrel came into contact with electrical equipment.

It happened on Walnut Street (because of course it did) near Hunter Street, Freisen said.

"Small animals have been known to cause outages on occasion by chewing on wires or getting into the equipment," Freisen said.

Crews get power going in Corktown on Friday morning. (Bill Knott/CBC)

But did the squirrel make it?

"I don't really want to comment on the state of the squirrel, but it's safe to say if it came into contact with the wires, things wouldn't be in the squirrel's favour," he said.