Tiny ‘stowaway’ outraged after being rescued from inside of car, Texas photos show

Firefighters found themselves caught in a struggle of wits and wills after responding to a call about a “stowaway” stuck inside a car, according to a Texas fire department.

The showdown happened in a Walmart parking lot, the department said in a Jan. 5 Facebook post. The car’s owner believes the animal slipped inside unnoticed while in New Braunfels and unintentionally hitched a ride to Converse, a distance of about 20 miles, the department said.

Photos show firefighters swarming a blue sedan on all fronts, scouring the engine compartment and crawling underneath the chassis, trying to flush out the cautious critter — a tiny black kitten.

“The kitten put up a good fight traveling from the engine compartment, then to the suspension, then to the rear of the vehicle,” firefighters said.

They came close to victory more than once, but the kitten proved slippery, the department said.

“The crew had a chance to capture the kitten, but it made a dash underneath two different parked vehicles,” according to the post.

A crowd had gathered around the firefighters and erupted into cheers when they finally captured the cat, the department said.

The kitten, however, seemed outraged, squirming in a firefighter’s hands, its claws extended and mouth wide open as if yelling obscenities, a photo shows.

But someone at the scene must have found the kitten’s roguish behavior charming, because they adopted it, according to firefighters.

“The kitten ended up finding a forever home with the owner of one of the vehicles!” the department said.

Converse is about 15 miles northeast of downtown San Antonio.

This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 11:31 AM with the headline "Tiny ‘stowaway’ outraged after being rescued from inside of car, Texas photos show."