Raccoon Stuck to Railway was Promptly Rescued, Escape from an Oncoming Train
A raccoon stranded in -12C (10.4F) conditions was saved by railway workers. The distressed animal was stuck on the track by his frozen testicle hairAfter a worker defrosted him, the raccoon ran off safely into the woods.
A railroad worker rescued a raccoon from an oncoming train after its testicles hair froze to the track. Neil Mullis, 35, found the traumatized animal and carefully freed him using warm water and a shovel.
Mr Mullis, from Cochrane, Georgia, USA, said: ‘I poured the warm water under his bottom while a co-worker worked the shovel under his butt to try and break him loose.’ After about five minutes of slowly working him loose, he was free. He jumped off the rail and ran into the woods never looking back.’
The animal was saved after getting frozen to the tracks by its testicle hair
In the video filmed on 19 December 2022, Mr Mullis can be heard saying ‘poor b***ard’s n**s are frozen to the rail’ as he finds it. After freeing the animal with hot water and a shovel, Mr Mullis cuts to the aftermath.
He says: ‘Operation well performed! Little fella’s safe.’Raccoons are naturally shy animals but can be aggressive when threatened and should be handled with caution.
Male raccoons – called boars – often live on their own, and are denning animals, preferring to avoid large open spaces.
This is made more difficult by deforestation, pushing them into urban areas for safety and food.
While they prefer temperate climates, raccoons have dense underfur to protect them from the cold – but this is less helpful when crossing railway tracks.
Despite the intense rescue efforts from Mr Mullis and his colleagues, nobody could tell how, or why, the raccoon got into this predicament.
He added: ‘I’m guessing because it was -12C outside somehow he was crossing over the rail and sat too long and got stuck!’
