Raccoon stuck to railway by his testicle rescued by railway workers using warm water and a shovel
>
Freeze things happen! A cold raccoon gets stuck to the railway by the hair on his testicles after temperatures plummeted to -12C before railway workers freed him with warm water and a shovel.
- A raccoon stranded in -12C (10.4F) conditions was saved by railway workers
- The distraught animal was trapped on the track by the frozen hair on its testicles.
- After being thawed out by a worker, the raccoon escaped safely into the woods.
A railway worker rescued a raccoon from an oncoming train after the hair on its testicles froze on the track.
Neil Mullis, 35, found the traumatized animal and carefully freed it using warm water and a shovel.
Mr Mullis, from Cochrane, Georgia, USA, said: “I poured the warm water under her butt while a co-worker shoveled under her butt trying to loosen it.”
‘After about five minutes of slowly releasing it, I was free. She jumped off the railing and ran into the woods without looking back.
The animal was saved after being frozen to the ground by the hair on its testicles.
Frozen fur on the train tracks after Mullis freed the raccoon with water and a shovel
In video shot on December 19, 2022, Mr Mullis can be heard saying ‘poor bastard’s blacks are frozen on the railing’ as he finds him.
After freeing the animal with hot water and a shovel, Mr. Mullis moves on to the aftermath.
He says: ‘Operation well done! The little friend is safe.
Raccoons are naturally timid animals, but they can be aggressive when threatened and must be handled with caution.
Male raccoons, called wild boars, often live alone and are burrowing animals, preferring to avoid large open spaces.
This is made difficult by deforestation, which pushes them to urban areas in search of safety and food.
Although they prefer temperate climates, raccoons have dense fur to protect them from the cold, but this is less useful when crossing railroad tracks.
Neil Mullis, 35, of Georgia, was at work when he came across the animal frozen to the line.
Despite intensive rescue efforts by Mr Mullis and his colleagues, no one could say how or why the raccoon got into this situation.
He added: “I’m guessing because it was -12C outside, he was somehow getting over the railing and he sat there too long and got stuck.”