A family’s Christmas tree turned out to be a little more realistic than originally planned after a wild squirrel took up residence in it.
Taylor Stading, from Waxhaw in North Carolina, says the intrepid rodent broke into her home through a loose tile in the roof climbed through a sink pipe opening and found itself in an upstairs bathroom.
Then, while it was presumably looking around to see if anyone had left a festive bowl of nuts anywhere, the family dog, Dixie, caught sight of the furry intruder.
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Dog and squirrel then went on a mad chase through the house, with the fugitive eventually taking refuge in the Christmas tree.
Taylor recorded some of the action on video as she – with vocal encouragement from her kids her kids, Colton, 11, Savannah, 8 and Caroline, 8 – tried to usher the squirrel out of the house.
As Taylor jabbed at the tree with a mop handle, the kids can be heard shouting “Mommy, go full force on it!” And “Is it dead?”
Despite suggestions that she “call Daddy!” Taylor eventually managed to get the squirrel out of a window without any help.
And as an added Christmas bonus, the Christmas tree itself survived the encounter.
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After Taylor posted video clips of her adventure to Faceboook, commenters remarked how the incident was a real life replay of the chaotic scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
In the 1989 film, a squirrel moves into the Griswold family’s tree before attaching itself to hapless dad Clark Griswold’s back while his cousin Eddie’s dog goes crazy trying to catch it.
That memorable scene almost didn’t make it into the film: on the day before shooting was set to start, the squirrel that had been trained to do the all stunts for the film died.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, director Jeremiah Chechik recalled what his reaction was when he heard about the furry performer’s death. “I said, ‘Holy f*ck, we’re shooting that today!
“And the animal trainer turned and said, ‘Ya know, they don’t live that long.'”
Thankfully this time around Taylor’s squirrel survived its Christmas adventure.
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