The neighborhood squirrel, who has been affectionately named Maxine by the video creator Derrick Downey Jr., was caught red-handed chewing up Derrick’s outdoor couch.
In the video, which can be seen here, Derrick is heard telling Maxine off after catching her in the act.
“Oh my God Maxine,” Derrick says, adding, “Do you see you tearing up that furniture? You just destroyed that couch. That is not cool,” he continued.
The Los Angeles-based content creator told Newsweek that he had grown suspicious after seeing Maxine running across the street with cotton in her mouth.
“Maxine is one of the neighborhood squirrels I named who comes to visit me often. On the day, I saw Maxine carrying cotton across the street. I immediately began recording because I was intrigued and confused as to how she was retrieving cotton from the tree,” Derrick told Newsweek.
“After investigating, it was evident that she was only using the tree as her escape route from the roof where she ripped into my (couch) to retrieve my cushion,” he added.
The video shows Derrick tracing Maxine’s steps as she runs from the tree across from his home to his outdoor couch, diligently guarding her stolen cotton as she flees.
Derrick said he had previously built a home on his patio for Maxine and another resident squirrel.
The video by @DerrickDowneyJr has amassed 10.7 million views since it was posted to the social media platform last week, making it the seasoned content creator’s most successful video to date.
The video has aptly been captioned: “Time for me to go buy some cotton and a new couch cushion”.
Perhaps aware of his audience’s interest in Maxine, Derrick has made her a regular on his TikTok page and has filmed her mischievous antics multiple times, calling the series of videos ’nibble down.'
The bond between Maxine and Derrick has become evident to his audience.
“The way she came to you when you said her name,” one TikTok user commented under the video.
Other users have suggested that Maxine’s destructive behavior could be due to her innate need to gather comfortable materials for her nest.
According to the U.K.’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, squirrels build comfortable nests from beds of grass among other natural materials.
“You could leave out a container of small animal bedding from the pet store so that she has a better option,” one user advised.
“My squirrel neighbors started that on one of my cushions for their nests,” another one added.
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