In the U.S., Joey the squirrel is being praised as a hero after she attacked a burglar who had broken into a house to steal a gun from its owner.

A noisy squirrel named Joey used physical force to fight a burglar who broke into her owner’s house in Meridian, Idaho. Adam Pearl, the squirrel’s owner told a local Kiwi TV station that he realized “something had gone wrong” when he came home and saw footprints on the snow leading to the back of his house.

After he got in and was greeted warmly by Joey, he noticed that the doors were open. Next he went to the back bedroom, where he saw that there were scratches around the lock on the safe where his gun was kept, presumably someone had tried to open it. He called the police and when Officer Ashley Turner came to investigate the incident, Joey greeted her in a friendly manner.

After verifying that there were scratches on the suspect’s arm, the man confirmed that Pearl the squirrel had attacked him and wouldn’t stop doing it until he was out of the house!

The squirrel’s owner, Adam Pearl, said Joey has lived in his house for about six months after he was found in a flower garden by a friend’s daughter when he was about a week old.

“His temperament is kind of like a cat,” Pearl said. “When he wants attention, he’ll run up to you and climb up your leg.”