A gift shop owner feared something “a little bit freaky” was going on after items mysteriously started moving and smashing – before CCTV unmasked the culprit as an acrobatic hedgehog.
Rachel Eaton was baffled when objects began apparently moving on their own at her shop at the start of the week.
But footage finally revealed the mysterious “bandit” was actually a young hedgehog staging an extraordinary late-night assault course.
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CCTV showed the adventurous animal clambering up a large wooden beam before tumbling into a hanging basket, dangling precariously and eventually dropping to the ground.
The hedgehog was safely collected by staff at Curiosity in Swanage, Dorset, as reported by What’s The Jam.
Rachel said the mystery began when CCTV appeared to show a Buddha statue moving on its own.
But the following evening, the camera caught the hedgehog scaling the wooden beam before falling into the basket.
Rachel believes the animal had become trapped in the shop’s yard, which is locked overnight.
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She said staff found the whole thing hilarious and had been cooing over their unexpected little customer.
She said: “We are generally wildlife-free.
“Though we did have a squirrel once, which got into a store room at the back of the shop.”
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Jim Dunne, who has run Dorset Hedgehog Rescue for 13 years, said he had never seen such an “adventurous hedgehog” before.
He said hedgehogs have “poor eyesight” and rely on their sense of smell and hearing to get around, meaning they tend to “blunder into things”.
“If they can get themselves into trouble they will,” he added.
The rescue centre cared for the young female before releasing her safely back into the wild.
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