Squirrel Foils Attempted Theft

Idaho isn't always a hot bed for news. But this week a pet squirrel scared off a would-be burglar trying to break into a gun safe.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Imagine a home security system that costs acorns. Teenager broke into a home in Meridian, Idaho, this week. And when he tried to break into a gun safe in the house, he got scratched by Joey, a pet squirrel. Joey's holed up in the home of Adam Pearl of Meridian since he was found in a flower garden about six months ago. He hasn't been trained as a security squirrel but reportedly, trained himself to use a litter box. He eats nuts, greens and spinach. A lot of us could stand to be on the same diet as Joey.

Adam Pearl said he'd planned to release Joey into his backyard this spring. But after Joey foiled a burglar, he says, I'm kind of torn. He told KIVI in Boise, nobody can believe it because who can say they have a squirrel that guards their house?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SECRET SQUIRREL ")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: What an agent. What a squirrel. He's got the country in a whirl. What's his name? Secret Squirrel. He's got tricks up his sleeve most bad guys won't believe - a bullet proof coat, a cannon hat, machine gun cane with a rat tat tat tat.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.