My wife and I had just moved in to our house. The second day she was at the front door with a bag of groceries. She unlocked the door and turned around to pick up the bag. As soon as she turned around a squirrel climbed up her leg and onto her shoulder. She screamed, shucked it off and ran inside.
Turns out the previous owner would feed the squirrel peanuts, with the squirrel on her shoulder!
LOL! Your poor wife...talk about startling!