Freezing things happen! The frosty raccoon gets stuck on the railroad with its testicle hair after temperatures plummeted to -12C before railroad workers freed it with warm water and a shovel
- A raccoon stranded at -12 °C (10.4 °F) was rescued by railroad workers
- The desperate animal got stuck on the track with its frozen testicle hair
- After a worker thawed him, the raccoon ran away safely into the forest
A railroad worker rescued a raccoon from an oncoming train after its testicle hairs became frozen to the tracks.
Neil Mullis, 35, found the traumatized animal and carefully freed it with warm water and a shovel.
Mr Mullis, of Cochrane, Georgia, USA, said: “I poured the warm water under his butt while a colleague worked with the shovel under his butt to try to pry him free.
“After about five minutes, during which I slowly worked it loose, it was free. He jumped off the rail and ran into the woods without looking back.’
The animal was rescued after freezing to the tracks by its testicle hair
Hair frozen to the tracks after Mr. Mullis freed the raccoon with water and a shovel
In the video, shot on December 19, 2022, Mr Mullis can be heard saying: “Poor B***ard’s N**s are frozen to the rail,” he says.
After freeing the animal with hot water and a shovel, Mr. Mullis cuts to the aftermath.
He says: “Operation well done! The little fellow is safe.”
Raccoons are naturally shy animals but can become aggressive when threatened and should be handled with care.
Male raccoons — called wild boars — often live alone and are den animals that prefer to avoid large open spaces.
This is made more difficult by deforestation, which is pushing them into urban areas for security and food reasons.
While they prefer temperate climates, raccoons have a thick undercoat to protect them from the cold — but that’s less helpful when crossing train tracks.
Neil Mullis, 35, of Georgia, was at work when he came across the animal frozen to its leash
Despite the intense rescue efforts by Mr Mullis and his colleagues, no one could say how or why the raccoon ended up in this predicament.
He added: “I’m guessing because it was -12C outside he kind of crossed the railing and sat too long and got stuck!”