Animals in the wrong place at the wrong time
Wild animals don't always stay where they're expected, and they can cause quite a hubbub when they find themselves out of their element.
For example: Feral hogs are on a deadly warpath in Texas ... and elsewhere.
These (and many other wild boars) recently took a stroll through Hong Kong's Aberdeen Park. The city has been seeing a concerning increase in their wild boar population.
When gators climb trees
In July 2016, Ronald Saracino was walking through his neighborhood of Southwest Florida when he looked up and saw what appeared to be an alligator perched up in a tree. Impossible? The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed that it was, in fact, an alligator, and that the animals have been known to exhibit such behavior.
"It gives them a little bit better view of their territory," Amy Sera, an educator at the Calusa Nature Center in Fort Myers, told CBS affiliate WINK. "Cold blooded animals get their energy from the sun and the warmth. So, they are more active in the summer."
Snakes in a pool ... noodle
In June 2018, an unsuspecting Arizona family found some cold-blooded stowaways in a pool toy: baby rattlesnakes. Firefighters subsequently warned area pool owners to check those foam noodles with care.
Eagle eyes on the field
In 2008 this curious eagle owl interrupted a Belgian football match against Finland at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. Perhaps he wanted to play!
Is anybody home?
Knock, knock! This monocled cobra would like to come in.
This breed of snake's bite can be fatal. Otherwise he might have made an excellent dinner guest at any of the residences inside this Herne, Germany apartment building the cobra visited in 2019.
Desk duty
This super-nosy cat watched over a police officer filling out information at a Malaysian polling station in 2009.
Peacock trashes liquor store
A liquor store in Southern California had an unwelcome visitor in June 2017, and it wasn't an underage customer.
A peacock (or perhaps a peahen?) wandered into the store, and wouldn't come down from the top shelves. By the time animal control officers captured the bird, it had destroyed $500 worth of booze.
What's that snake doing there?
Ashley Glawe got some attention in January 2017 after she posted this photo to her Facebook page, writing that she landed in the emergency room after her pet snake slithered into her gauged earlobe.
Glawe and her pet python both came out of the situation unharmed.
We're walkin' here!
Some alpacas went for a stroll on a busy street in Zhengzhou, China. No word on if the shop was actually selling alpacas.
These little piggies went to market
In July 2015, French farmers let a bunch of pigs loose in a local supermarket to protest the recent rise in milk and meat prices. And while pigs don't often spend their time in grocery stores, these pigs made themselves right at home sampling the merchandise.
And what's that snake doing THERE?
Isac Mcfadden was shocked to find a rattlesnake peeking its head out of the toilet in his Texas home in January 2017. The young boy and his family were even more shocked when a snake removal expert found another 23 rattlers underneath their house.
The lion sleeps in Milwaukee
On July 20, 2015, police in Milwaukee received multiple 911 calls reporting a mountain lion roaming the streets. One woman in Milwaukee's Brewers Hill neighborhood even managed to captured cellphone footage that appears to show the large, muscular cat approaching her neighbor's lawn.
The animal is still on the loose and it's now the proud owner of its very own Twitter account @milwaukee_lion, tweeting out updates like "out on a stroll," "I HAZ CAMOUFLAGE," and "OMG GUYS WAY TO MAKE A VISITOR FEEL WELCOME."
Loose llama
A llama that escaped from an Athens, Georgia, home in 2016 stopped traffic and forced local police to think, well, like a llama.
The llama was caught using a bag of carrots.
Fashion hungry hippos
This hippopotamus escaped from a zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, when abnormally heavy rainfalls damaged his cage. Here, he's seen casually walking past a Swatch store in the Georgian capital, June 14, 2015.
On a less casual note, though, this hippo wasn't the only animal that escaped from the Georgian zoo this weekend, due to rising floodwaters. Tigers, lions, bears and wolves escaped from their weakened cages, as well. And some are still on the loose.
He's here for the peanuts
On June 19, 2015, a rather ballsy squirrel scurried through Citizens Bank Park during a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals in Philadelphia.
The little guy ran across the protective netting behind home plate, before nosediving nearly 30 feet into the Phillies dugout while shocked fans looked on.
Do you even lift, Bro?
This abnormally buff kangaroo might fit in a wide variety of places: the gym, the Jersey Shore, the protein powder aisle at the grocery store...
But when he popped up on a golf course in the North Lakes of Australia, May 22, 2015, he gave locals a bit of a scare. One woman even ran into the jacked animal while walking her dogs through a nearby suburb; telling Australia's 7 News, "We turned the corner and old mate jumped out... He's got massive, massive muscles, big pecs and everything." The poor guy probably just wanted to tell her that the gym is that way.
Snakes in chip canisters
Authorities discovered three king cobras in potato chip canisters in March 2017. The snakes had been bundled into a package mailed from Hong Kong.
Rodrigo Franco, a Los Angeles man, was accused of smuggling the snakes and charged with illegally importing merchandise.
Breaking the seal
This seal wondered into a fish market in Charleston, Oregon, looking for some free fish. He'd reportedly been hanging around Fisherman's Wharf for years, but never actually ventured into the store until May 2015.
"I'm sure he saw all the customers walk into the store and come out with fish," said Matt Ledoux of Fisherman's Wharf, "so he thought he'd give it a go."
Can you blame the little guy? He was hungry, so he tried to seal the deal.
Koala Kare
This koala sauntered into the emergency room at Hamilton Base Hospital in Australia, May 5, 2015.
Security cameras captured him wondering around the waiting area for several minutes, before casually exiting out the same automatic door through which he entered.
No harm, no fowl
You've heard of "Girls Gone Wild." Now, what about "Bathrooms Gone Wild?"
Nancy Page of Warwick, Rhode Island returned home, April 20, 2015, to find that a wild turkey had broken into her bathroom, accidentally turned on the faucet and severely flooded her home.
Emergency services were able to wrangle the animal and get it safely back into the wild, but not before it caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to Page's home.
The wild bird left behind a trail of feathers, broken glass and ruined ceilings. So, they may say, "ho harm, no fowl;" but clearly, that's not always the case.
Wile E. Coyote
When in New York City, you expect to see Coyote Ugly, not an actual coyote. But this wily fellow was spotted around Riverside Drive and West 87th Street around 5am on April 22, 2015. A massive search ensued, with the NYPD even mobilizing four helicopters to search for the animal from the sky. Upper West Side cops finally located the coyote "deeply nestled in the brush" near Grant's Tomb in Riverside Park just before 9am, tweeting out to the public that their operations were now concluded.
Coyotes have been known to attack children and small pets, when they find their way into residential areas. So, it's a good thing the NYPD found him before he found breakfast.
What a quack
A duck unexpectedly pops his head out of a Louisiana chimney, April 21, 2015.
#ZebraGate
Bueller... Bueller...?
Four zebras played hooky from a zebra ranch in Vilvoorde, Belgium, April 17, 2015, choosing instead to run wild through the streets of Brussels.
Their "day off" sparked much confusion in the Belgian capital and gave way to the trending hashtag #ZebraGate.
Whither P-22?
The Griffith Park mountain lion known as P-22 recently decided to make a move ... to a human's house. The cougar briefly took up residence under a Los Angeles home in April 2015 before vanishing back into the southern California wilderness.
Llamas on the loose
Llamas Carnita and Lainey took off on an adventure in late February 2015.
The two llamas escaped from a retirement community in Sun City, Ariz. and ran free for two hours before the Maricopa County Sheriff's department could wrangle them safely.
The "llow speed chase" was extremely popular on Twitter, inspiring a number of hashtags including #LlamasonTheLoose.
Fashionable monkey
This Japanese snow macaque monkey caused a sensation in 2012 when it showed up at an Ikea in Toronto, Canada, wearing a shearling coat.
Restless bear
Meet Oscar, a black bear, who managed to climb out of his exhibit area at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas in 2014.
Oscar enjoyed about 90 minutes of freedom before he got caught.
Rocky the bobcat
This bobcat, named Rocky, has escaped seven times from his New Jersey home.
The reason: He's a bobcat.
Hedgehogs at home?
This hedgie was held up at a press conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2014, as part of an effort to round up ill-advised pets in that state.
Hedgehogs and other exotic pets are often dumped in the wild, creating havoc for the environment.
Snakes in a tub
A toddler in Queensland, Australia had a lucky escape in 2012 after he discovered a clutch of venomous snake eggs in his backyard.
The eggs were later put in this tub, where they hatched.
Pet WHAT????
In 2013 at least 1 million cockroaches reportedly escaped from a Chinese farm, where they were being bred for use in traditional medicine.
An unknown perpetrator was thought to have destroyed the greenhouse where they were housed.
Wolf hybrid
This animal, thought to be a wolf-dog hybrid, escaped its home in 2013 and attacked a neighboring canine in Washington state.
Auto sheep
This sheep made a surprise visit to a Detroit auto collision shop in 2013, darting through an open door and skittering around for about 20 minutes before it was finally rounded up.
What a croc
Here's a 4-foot-long crocodile found at a California shopping center in 2014. It had escaped from a nearby reptile store.
Police and animal control officers on Wednesday wrangled the crocodile with a catch pole typically used for dogs.
Owl be seein' ya
Soren, a 2-year-old barn owl, flew the coop in 2014 before being returned to his home at an Atlanta zoo.
We brake for elephants
A 2014 flood in India spurred this elephant to cross a highway, part of an attempted escape to higher ground.
Boa, constricted
This boa constrictor went missing in 2014 from its owner's home.
It was found in Nampa, Idaho, two days later. The boa constrictor, named Trinity, made it as far as the garage.
Bear alert!
This black bear was photographed rummaging for food, then trying to escape a car interior in Castle Pines, Colorado, in 2014.
What a croc, redux
After 2 years on the lam, this 5 1/2 foot Nile crocodile was finally captured inside Everglades National Park in Florida in 2014.
It had escaped from a facility in Miami-Dade county with two others.
Day of the iguana
This Florida iguana is not where it's supposed to be.
Increasingly, iguanas imported as pets are escaping or being released, and are going wild in South Florida.
Fleeing dove
The doves freed by Pope Francis during his Angelus prayer last year are having a hard time out there. In this 2014 photo, one of those doves is attacked by a black crow at the Vatican.
The National Animal Protection Agency has published an open letter reminding Francis that domesticated doves are easy prey for predators living in the wild.
Wake up, sheeple!
These sheep are not supposed to be here.
Before 1934, sheep were free to graze in the meadows of New York City's Central Park. This particular herd was brought to Manhattan and released in the park to be filmed for a scene in the 2005 movie Little Manhattan.
The Bears, the Ravens and a cat
A fearless feline ran onto the field of a 2017 Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
We'll never fore-get this pup
You need absolute concentration to play golf. Unfortunately, this dog did not care at all. He strutted right through the 2016 Chitimacha Louisiana Open at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club in Broussard, Louisiana.
You've cats to be kitten us!
You can't blame this cat for wanting to chase a ball. However, she totally didn't belong on the soccer field during the 2016 FA Cup third-round football match between Everton and Dagenham & Redbridge in Liverpool, England.
Crazy crayfish
What is this red swamp crayfish doing in Berlin? Its species has been invading city lakes and causing damage to its ecosystem.
Who turned out the lights??
A leopard in Rajasthan, India managed to get a pot stuck on its head in 2015. According to the BBC, the leopard spent about five hours with the pot stuck over his head before being tranquilized and safely freed of its stylish, but vision-obscuring, new hat.
A worthy competitor
A wallaby wanted to join in on the racing fun during a practice session for the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix in 2018. Do you think she won?
This game is for the birds
These seagulls couldn't be bothered to fly off the field during a 2015 Australian soccer match between the Western Bulldogs and the Collingwood Magpies in Melbourne.
Diving for the ball
Put me in, coach! This little black cat showed off how far it can stretch during a 2016 soccer match in Sydney. The game was between the Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla Sharks.
We're guessing this feisty feline was hoping for a spot on the former.
Special delivery
Did anyone order a snake?
A Thai firefighter captured this little guy inside a Bangkok home, where he wasn't supposed to be.