A Perth cabbie found himself shouting ”I’m a taxi driver, get me out of here!” after mistaking a lost hamster for a rat.
Scared Ace Taxis driver Danny Cruickshank drove from Dundee to Perth with his internal light on after feeling the runaway rodent scamper across his feet on a Saturday night run.
Bemused staff searched the interior for the stowaway before they were told a customer had rung last Tuesday looking for her new hamster.
It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that they finally managed to corner the pesky pet and end its near week-long ordeal.
The High Street firm’s boss, Andy Lothian, laughed: ”The driver dropped someone off in Dundee and felt something go across his feet.
”He thought it was a rat and was absolutely terrified. He drove all the way home with his cab light on and refused to go out in the car again.
”We’ve been merciless with him since because he was sure a rat had run into the car when he opened the door and it turns out it was just a hamster.
”The problem was the customer rang during the day to ask if we’d found it she’d just got it from Pets at Home and opened the box when she got home to find it missing.
”The night shift on Saturday are different staff so they didn’t know anything about it. It wasn’t until the day shift returned they realised what had happened.”
A different quick-witted, and somewhat braver, driver was able to recapture the furry felon in a biscuit tin and bring it into the office.
Andy returned it to Pets at Home where it is now enjoying some home comforts before being re-homed.