You have heard of seagulls snatching chips and foxes rummaging through your bins, but what about a squirrel launching onto your back as you buy your meal deal?
That is what happened to 34-year-old Emma Wright when she went into the Clerkenwell Tesco to buy her lunch on Friday.
“I had gone to get my lunch at the store near to my office and was taking my pasta salad round to the check-out when I just felt this weight on my back,” she told the Standard.
“I thought it was a colleague grabbing me as a prank to try and make me jump so I turned around but there was no one there.
“Then I put my hand on my shoulder and felt something furry. I didn’t scream but I did swear.
“I am not the most skittish of people but you don’t expect to have a squirrel jump on your back do you?”
Ms Wright, a PR account director from Stroud Green, said the squirrel then ran over to the wine section and hid under the shelf.
“I am not sure how long he was in the shop but I said to the guy at the till: ‘Do you know you have a squirrel running around the store?’
“He laughed and said: ‘Yeh I know, we are trying to get him out’.”
Ms Wright since shared her photo of the creature sniffing around the Blossom Hill wine deals on Twitter.
“I have had a lot of response,” she said. “It has been a perfect storm of British humour.
“One guy tweeted me saying: ‘You get a much better quality of vermin in Waitrose, there is a red stag in the corner.’”
Since the picture went viral an environmentalist got in touch to tell Ms Wright that young squirrels away from the mothers often get stressed and look for comfort.
“Maybe he just saw my jumper and wanted a cuddle?” she said.
“Or maybe he saw my pasta salad and thought he fancied a change from his usual diet.
“They are getting bolder and bolder,” she added.
“It’s Tesco today but it will be Harrods next.”
Tesco have confirmed they safely removed the squirrel from the store.
A spokesman told the Standard: “Our colleagues quickly adapted their fantastic customer service skills to help our furriest and smallest customer.
“After browsing our selection of wines, the squirrel was safely helped out of the store.”
