Family found squirrelled away in a road sweeper

The animals had been swept up into the bag as the cleaner made his rounds of the streets of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate.

All the baby squirrels survived their ordeal, and have since been taken to an animal shelter, police confirmed.

Squirrels keep their young in treetops and there’s always the danger that they fall out or that the nest falls apart.

Environmentalists say young squirrels typically leave their nests at around nine weeks old, according to the report of the incident in the Der Spiegel on Sunday.

The Local/jlb