Germany: ‘Uncooperative’ squirrel freed from manhole cover

Firefighters say they have freed an “uncooperative” squirrel that was stuck in a manhole cover in western Germany — echoing a similar incident that happened in the same city four years ago.

The Dortmund fire department said it was alerted to a distressed red squirrel by a pedestrian on Monday afternoon, after she spotted its head peering out of a hole in the road. The woman covered it with a scarf to calm it down before calling for help.

A crew of firefighters who arrived at the scene carefully removed the manhole cover and tried to free the rodent.

“This turned out to be quite complicated as the squirrel was uncooperative,” the fire department said.

After further attempts the crew was able to extract the animal unharmed and it vanished up a nearby tree.

Dortmund firefighters have some experience of saving stuck squirrels. In 2019, a similar squirrel rescue drew international attention.

“It could not be determined if it was the same squirrel that had to be rescued from the same situation four years ago,” the fire department said in a statement.

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