Aurora Starchild
A little raccoon was recently spotted straddling a railway track. The raccoon was, unfortunately, completely stuck because his testicles were frozen to the metal. Luckily, a railroad worker spotted him and helped him out of his predicament.
Videos by Rare
Railroad Workers Spotted the Raccoon Straddling a Railway Track
Neil Mullis, 35, from Cochrane, Georgia, and his coworkers, spotted the little raccoon sitting on the railway track on December 19. It was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 degrees Celsius) outside that day. That’s well below freezing, when moisture droplets and perspiration can cause a person (or animal) to accidentally stick to things.
“I’m guessing because it was -12 degrees outside somehow, he was crossing over the rail and sat too long and got stuck!” said Mullis. Neither he nor his coworkers knew how long the raccoon had been stuck for.
According to the Daily Star, the raccoon’s situation was rapidly becoming more dire as an oncoming train barreled toward him.
Okay, it was still minutes away. But it was coming.
Neil Morris and His Coworkers Used Warm Water and a Shovel to Pry the Raccoon’s Testicles Free
That’s when Mullis and his fellow railway workers came up with a plan.
“I poured the warm water under his bottom while a co-worker worked the shovel under his butt to try and break him loose,” he said. “After about five minutes of slowly working him loose, he was free. He jumped off the rail and ran in the woods, never looking back.”
Footage published via Daily Mail shows the raccoon sitting on the track, stunned. He’s looking around rather uncomfortably, probably traumatized, and terrified. The raccoon is clearly frozen to the railway by its testicles.
“Little bastard’s nuts are frozen to the rail,” Neil says on the video. He was kind enough to leave it at that, promptly freeing the raccoon. The clip then shows the raccoon’s hair that remained after he was freed.
“Operation well performed,” Neil exclaims. “The little fella’s safe. There’s the rest of his nut hair.”
Raccoons are uniquely well-suited for cold weather conditions — usually. They accumulate fat stores and can bear cold weather. They may enter a semi-hibernation state called “torpor” if temperatures fall below 15 degrees for extended periods of time. That usually involves curling up in a ball to sleep somewhere in their den.
However, they clearly aren’t infallible. More importantly, if one raccoon can get his testicles stuck to metal, then others can, too. Thanks to Neil Mullis, we now know what to look for.
This is much worse than trying to lick a flagpole with your tongue.