Squirrels are famous for their ability to solve complex problems in order to get food. There have been many documentaries and research projects about this.
This ability had been harnessed by the police many years ago for different outcomes.
Police wanted to get into buildings with no trace of breaking and entering, this is where the squirrel came in.
They trained squirrels to get into buildings through windows or grills. Once inside they were taught to locate keys and unlock outside doors, this would then lead to a reward by the controlling officer.
The difficulty part was getting squirrels to understand how to use a key and not only that the need to try different keys. It was a difficult job and it took many years to train a squirrel to complete the number of steps required in this most difficult of tasks. The red squirrel is a natural but with an average life span of about 3 (they can live to about 7) this didn't leave much time to put them into use. They were moderately successful in this role and enabled the police to get into places search and get out again without suspects knowing.
With the introduction of the grey squirrel into this country around 1878, the number of red squirrels has been dramatically reduced. Unfortunately the grey squirrels never took to the training that the reds lapped up and the squirrel break in squad died out around 1910.
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