Everybody's come across a stray dog every now and then. It's rare, however, that the stray dog turns out to be, well, a legitimate wild animal:

A family in Massachusetts thought they found a lost puppy. It was actually a distressed baby coyote.

The Eastern Coyote pup got separated from his mother and was found wandering by the side of a busy road.

He was then accidentally taken home by a local family after they mistakenly identified him as a lost puppy.

You gotta admit, that little guy is cute. Baby coyotes are indeed pretty stinkin' adorable.

Maybe that's part of their plan: Be cute and get adopted by human beings and get to live out the rest of their lives in domesticated comfort.

Unfortunately, coyotes are significant vectors for rabies, so it's not a great idea to, you know, keep em in your home. Thankfully the New England Wildlife Center was on the job:

After realizing their mix up they called us for assistance. With the help of the Mass Department of Public Health we were able to determine there was no potential exposure risk to rabies, and were able to clear him for care and granted permission to rehab by Mass Wildlife.

It's a happy ending, but you gotta wonder if at this point the coyote is regretting his decision to leave the wild.

Advice to all coyote pups: Avoid busy roads!

P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇