Animals can encounter a lot of accidents in the wild, sometimes even with fatal consequences.
That’s exactly what happened to this poor raccoon who found himself in quite a dangerous predicament, but the animal is still alive today thanks to the efforts of two kindhearted teens.
It all started when two boys decided to play in the woods.
Rylen (12) and Daiton (14) arrived back home in Texas and decided to go play in the woods. They’d just got back from a family event and figured they’d spend time exploring the woods before nightfall.
On their small trip, they suddenly encountered a number of animal burrows, including a collapsed one. They spotted a raccoon completely trapped and unable to move, with its head just barely above the ground.
Dad, Dray McMillion, still recalls how it all went down.
“They spotted a raccoon around 2 to 3 feet down in the hole. Only his head and front legs were exposed,” the father said to The Dodo. “The boys immediately called me and told me what they had found.”
The burrow had collapsed before the raccoon could escape it.
He found himself completely stuck in the hole, and while he was desperately trying to get out with his two front paws, the animal was just completely helpless.
Daiton and Rylen had no idea how long the raccoon has been in this dangerous predicament, but they certainly knew that they needed to help.
Since it wasn’t very far from home, they ran back to the house to get their dad for some extra help.
When the three of them returned, it seemed as if the raccoon didn’t have much time left. He was noticeably struggling to breathe, and help couldn’t come soon enough.
“When I arrived, the raccoon was gasping for air,” the father said. “It was very sad to see this animal struggle. My boys were very adamant that we had to save the animal.”
Armed with shovels, they worked together to carefully free the raccoon.
The two boys also used their hands to delicately get him out, and not make the situation even more severe than it already was.
Unfortunately, the rescue process wasn’t going as smoothly as the three of them had hoped, and it was already starting to get dark. They figured they could use some extra help digging the poor animal out of the burrow.
So dad got in touch with the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
Luckily, the animal organization was able to gather some volunteers who arrived at the scene rather quickly.
When back-up arrived, this poor wild animal was able to walk freely again.
Of course, the animal organization made sure to check on the raccoon after they rescued him, just to see if he had any serious injuries from the event.
Thankfully, the poor animal was only a bit in shock and seemed perfectly fine otherwise – his difficulties breathing were resolved as soon as he got out of the burrow. He was then released back into the wilderness.
Daiton and Rylen were relieved that everything went well, and are definitely proud of themselves that they were able to save this helpless animal’s life.
Of course, dad couldn’t be more proud either!
“I could see the sense of accomplishment in my boys,” he told. “They were very excited that the animal was released safely.”
If it weren’t for these two boys who wanted nothing more than to help this animal and insisted on spending hours to save him, this raccoon likely wouldn’t have made it through the night.
While the raccoon didn’t have the best of luck in the collapsing burrow, these two boys were certainly at the right place and at the right time.
Their rescue has been the talking topic at home, and they’ll probably keep this raccoon in their thoughts for a long time.
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“When we got back to the house, they shared their excitement with me,” dad concluded. “I could tell this would be something they would never forget.”
The animal organization shared a video of the rescue on their Facebook page, and couldn’t praise the teens enough.
“Two teens came across a raccoon buried alive, gasping for air, under dirt and cement while exploring in a wooded area. The boys immediately ran home to ask their Dad for help,” a spokesperson wrote.
“Together they dug out as much dirt as they possibly could and offered water to the raccoon, all while not touching her. Once we arrived, we were all able to safely work as a team and get her back on her feet. She had “sea legs” at first, but after a several minutes, took off. Way to go Dray (Dad), Rylen, and Daiton!”
See the exciting rescue in the video below!
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