A man called the police after he was chased down by a baby squirrel.

Squirrel

Squirrel

Officers responded to the call for help and arrived to find the small fury animal still chasing the caller in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Posting about the incident on Twitter, police said the man tod them: ''Help, I'm being pursued by the squirrel.''

This led to officers starting their own chase for the baby mammal, which fell asleep once it had been caught.

The rodent has been dubbed Karl-Friedrich - and the police's new mascot - while he being looked after in an animal rescue centre.

A police spokeswoman explained that squirrels who have lost their mothers can often latch onto a person as a replacement.

She added that it can be ''pretty scary'', and that the man ''was certainly feeling a bit threatened''.