A man who noticed that something had been attacking his outdoor cushion has left the internet in hysterics with his reaction when he finally caught the culprit in the act.

Several days ago, Dave Joyce spotted many small rips in one of the cushions on the outdoor sofa. At the time, he had certain suspects in mind, telling Newsweek that he “thought it might be squirrels,” but he was yet to prove it.

That changed on April 19 when Joyce, originally from Australia but resides in Kansas City, Missouri, finally caught the thief in action.

“I went to let the dog out and noticed some movement outside,” Joyce said. “Initially I thought it was eating the stuffing, but quickly realized that it was packing the stuffing to take to its nest.”

As he sat nearby, Joyce watched the squirrel, nicknamed Gary, crawl out from the cushion and fill its mouth with the fluff from inside. It then scurried away towards the nearby trees.

Joyce captured this moment happening in real time, and he couldn’t resist sharing the footage on TikTok (@daveinmurica). The video of Gary getting “caught red handed” has delighted internet users, and it’s gone viral with over 1.6 million views and more than 113,600 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.

In the video, the shock in Joyce’s voice can be heard when he said: “Gary? No. Mate, what are you doing?”

A squirrel’s nest is known as a drey, and it’s usually a ball of leafy twigs with plenty of grass, leaves, feathers, and bark to help soften it up. The Woodland Trust, a UK charity, explains that squirrels usually position their nests at least six meters from the ground, close to the tree trunk, or in forks of branches.

Despite ruining his outdoor cushions, Joyce has developed quite a soft spot for Gary. He told Newsweek that the squirrel has “been back multiple times” and continued taking more stuffing with him on each occasion.

“We left the cushion out for Gary to take what he needs. It looks like he has a nest in a tree not too far from our patio,” Joyce said.

The online reaction to the video is beyond anything Joyce imagined, as social media users can’t get enough of Gary’s antics. Since going viral, Joyce said the responses have been overwhelmingly positive and many people were amused by his Australian accent.

This has led to more than 2,600 comments on the TikTok post in just a matter of days, as the squirrel has become quite the internet sensation.

One comment reads: “Your patio is his Home Depot.”

Another TikTok user wrote: “Gary has committed the ultimate betrayal.”

Another person joked: “He working on his summer cottage.”

But many commenters suggested that Gary is actually a female, leaving one TikTok user to respond: “Best mother ever, really going above and beyond to make a nest.”

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