Dogs are far from being man's best friend, if you ask an RAC patrol driver - but at least they're more approachable than an alligator.
A study of 569 of the organisation's breakdown patrols found that 71% of the weirder call-outs involved animals.
Dogs frequently featured in odd entanglements by locking their owners out of their cars, swallowing the keys, or chewing up the interior.
Other animal-related call-outs included coming to the rescue of a van which broke down with an alligator on board, while another had to sprint to the aid of a transporter taking a cheetah to a zoo in time for feeding.
The survey also revealed a favourite trick for burrowing animals: tunnelling behind the dashboard, with snakes, mice and even kittens trying this approach.
But none of these wild encounters measures up to the 'steamy window' effect.
Almost a third of patrols said they'd approached stricken vehicles where couples were passing the time until their rescue in an amorous embrace.
