A friendly story for the friendly scottish section
A TAXI driver this week was praised for helping to rescue a trapped grey squirrel from an elderly woman’s home in Hamilton.
Nan Cummings (64) would like to thank Hastie Cars driver Fred Dawson who captured the animal after it sneaked into her home in Linden Lea on Saturday at 1.30am.
The drama unfolded when the squirrel got into her bathroom through an open window.
Terrified Nan called the SSPCA to help rescue the squirrel but they said that as it wasn’t an emergency, they couldn’t send someone out during the night.
The following morning Nan’s daughter, Elizabeth (38), went over to her mum’s house when she heard about the squirrel.
She called a taxi to take her to her mum’s house and that’s when Fred sprung into action.
Elizabeth aid: “We would like to thank the taxi driver for helping.
“When I was going over to my mum’s home in his car, he offered to get the squirrel out the house, and did it off his own back.
“He was wrestling with the squirrel which was dashing about in a frenzy..
“As he tried to rescue the squirrel, it bit him, and he had to go to hospital for a tetanus jag.”
Nan had realised something was wrong in her bathroom when she heard a clatter.
She went to a neighbour who came over and confirmed that a squirrel had infiltrated the bathroom.
Elizabeth said: “It is mostly women who live in this street and there was nothing they could do.
“My mum called the SSPCA but they said it wasn’t an emergency and that she should call the rangers at Chatelherault Country Park for help.
“The woman from the SSPCA at the other end of the line said not to worry as the squirrel was unlikely to bite.”
However, before Fred, of Hamilton, could release the squirrel into the wild, an officer from the SSPCA arrived on the scene.
Later the animal was put down.
Elizabeth said: “Fred wanted to release the squirrel into the wild before the SSPCA arrived.
“It was good of Fred to help out because he would have lost money by taking time out while working his shift and he ended up having to go for a tetanus injection.”
