A nurse looked out at her North Wales garden - and spotted a meerkat.
Jackie Morgan says the African animal looked "rather sorry for itself, standing upright and shivering in the morning frost".
She and husband Keith phoned animal rescue centres, a vet, the Welsh Mountain Zoo and Chester Zoo - but no one believed them.
Mrs Morgan, of Mynydd Isa near Mold, told the Daily Post: "I think they thought it was some kind of joke because of the TV advert. They said they thought it was more likely to be a ferret.
"We put some nuts out for it so it came in and we captured it in a box. I think it's only a baby.
"In the end I let it go in the conservatory and took some photos of it to send to them - they all phoned back saying it was definitely a meerkat!"
Mrs Morgan fed Monica, as she named the meerkat, with mice supplied by a neighbour who keeps snakes after taking advice from Chester Zoo.
She added: "We've had it sitting on our laps and it followed me around everywhere - I think it thinks I'm it's mum."
Chester Zoo came to the meerkat's - and Jackie's - rescue when it collected Monica.
Spokesperson Rachel Ashton said the zoo was happy to help and kept Monica in quarantine overnight before she was returned to her owner.
Jackie Morgan says the African animal looked "rather sorry for itself, standing upright and shivering in the morning frost".
She and husband Keith phoned animal rescue centres, a vet, the Welsh Mountain Zoo and Chester Zoo - but no one believed them.
Mrs Morgan, of Mynydd Isa near Mold, told the Daily Post: "I think they thought it was some kind of joke because of the TV advert. They said they thought it was more likely to be a ferret.
"We put some nuts out for it so it came in and we captured it in a box. I think it's only a baby.
"In the end I let it go in the conservatory and took some photos of it to send to them - they all phoned back saying it was definitely a meerkat!"
Mrs Morgan fed Monica, as she named the meerkat, with mice supplied by a neighbour who keeps snakes after taking advice from Chester Zoo.
She added: "We've had it sitting on our laps and it followed me around everywhere - I think it thinks I'm it's mum."
Chester Zoo came to the meerkat's - and Jackie's - rescue when it collected Monica.
Spokesperson Rachel Ashton said the zoo was happy to help and kept Monica in quarantine overnight before she was returned to her owner.
