The raccoon didn’t growl. It didn’t hiss. It stayed still, with its head trapped in the grate of a storm drain, while half the town tried to save it.
It all began on Tuesday, July 7, on Matty Drive in Rostraver Township, Pennsylvania. Public works employees and police officers were the first to find it. One neighbor tried the obvious: water and liquid soap to help it slide out. It didn’t work. The little animal had climbed down on its own and, when it tried to get out, got stuck at the wrong angle.
Then the firefighters arrived with the Jaws of Life, the same hydraulic tool they use to rescue people from wrecked cars. They lifted the entire grate with the raccoon still inside and only then cut it free. According to Police Chief Scott Sokol, the animal remained surprisingly calm throughout the entire procedure. As soon as it was free, it ran straight into the woods without looking back.
