Frantic squirrel misjudged manhole cover’s small opening — and took it out on rescuers
A squirrel in Germany attempted to scamper through a small opening in a manhole cover. The creature was unsuccessful — and took it out on rescuers.
The trapped squirrel was spotted by a woman walking along the street in Dortmund, the Dortmund Fire Department said in a Monday, April 10, news release. The animal was stuck with its head and front paws sticking out of the manhole cover, photos show.
She tried to help free the animal, officials said. In return, it tried to bite her.
Realizing she wasn’t going to rescue the squirrel on her own, she called firefighters to help and covered the animal with a scarf to try and calm it down, the release said.
Firefighters arrived and also tried to help. They lifted the manhole cover out of place, photos show. Still, the squirrel was uncooperative, its frantic body suspended in the air.
Finally, the firefighters managed to get the animal unstuck, the release said. It was unharmed and bolted to the nearest tree.
This is not the first time a squirrel in Dortmund has misjudged the size of a manhole cover’s opening, the German outlet DW reported. In 2019, a squirrel had to be sedated so rescuers could free it, the outlet reported.
Firefighters said they did not know if these were the same squirrel.
Dortmund is about 290 miles southwest of Berlin.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Dortmund Fire Department.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Frantic squirrel misjudged manhole cover’s small opening — and took it out on rescuers."
