Just four months after saving an overweight rat trapped in a sewer grate, German firefighters have again answered the call of rodent duty, this time sedating, then liberating, a very tense squirrel whose head got stuck in a manhole.
The furry critter wedged its tiny head in a manhole cover in the western German city of Dortmund on Thursday morning, local website Deutsche Welle reported.
Initial attempts by Dortmund firefighters to free the squirrel on site failed. So the team removed the entire manhole cover — with the rodent still stuck inside — and took it to a veterinary office.
The team had to sedate the frantic furball to free it, and are now treating it for “minor injuries” on its neck, the news site reported.
The rodent is expected to make a full recovery, the Dortmund Fire Department said on its Twitter while affectionately calling the little critter “our squirrel.”
Thursday’s rescue comes after a similar case where a rotund rodent with too much “winter flab” had to be rescued by an entire team of firefighters after she became stuck in a sewer grate in February.
The chubby little lady became a viral sensation after the large-scale operation in the German town of Bensheim, which required no less than seven firefighters.
“She had a lot of winter flab and was stuck fast at her hip — there was no going forward or back,” animal rescuer Michael Sehr told local media.
Sehr insisted animals of all pedigree deserve to be held in esteem.
“Even animals that are hated by many deserve respect,” he said.