It was, as police said, a “roaring shift.”

Police received an unusual and frantic call Saturday night about a wild animal on the loose in a village farm in northeast Scotland. The caller, a farm owner in the village of Hatton, told the Scottish Sun that he was having a housewarming party with his girlfriend and friends that night. He spotted the “tiger” when he went out to check on his pregnant cows.

“I got the fright of my life,” Bruce Grubb said, adding later: “I was worried it was going to eat all my cows before police managed to shoot it.”

Authorities contacted the nearest wildlife park to make sure no animals had escaped. Armed officers arrived at the scene, and a 45-minute standoff ensued, Police Scotland said. Photos posted on social media show the orange predator sitting on the ground in between cow pens.

In the end, though, there was no threat. And the loose animal was, in fact, a life-size stuffed tiger.

“It’s true — our officers had a roaring shift Saturday night,” Police Scotland said in a statement Tuesday.

George Cordiner, a police inspector, said armed officers were at the scene, “but they were not deployed nor required.”

“As is standard practice when we are made aware of a potential threat to the public the use of firearms officers was considered as a contingency,” Gordiner said, adding later: “Our ultimate aim is to protect the public and keep our officers safe when faced with uncertain situations. Until you know exactly what you are dealing with, every option has to be considered . . . We appreciate that it was a false call made with genuine good intent.”

Grubb, who had “absolutely no doubt it was real,” only became suspicious because the “tiger” wasn’t moving after an hour.

“I drove up to it with my truck, and that’s when I knew it was a toy . . . I feel a bit silly for calling the police, but I thought it was a real emergency,” he said.

Grubb said he doesn’t know how the stuffed tiger ended up on his farm, or if someone had played a prank on him. Police took the toy after the incident, he said.

“They said they wanted to keep it as a mascot,” Grubb said.

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Read this story at The Washington Post.

A stuffed tiger toy sits along the pilgrimage path up Girnar Hill in Gujarat, India. The Scottish “tiger” wasn’t real, either. (Eric Brown/Alamy Stock Photo)

A stuffed tiger toy sits along the pilgrimage path up Girnar Hill in Gujarat, India. The Scottish “tiger” wasn’t real, either. (Eric Brown/Alamy Stock Photo)