An “uncooperative” red squirrel has been rescued by firefighters after it became trapped in a manhole in Germany.
The tiny rodent’s head was spotted poking out of the manhole on a road in Dortmund on Monday afternoon, by a woman who quickly alerted the city’s fire department.
The squirrel was covered with a scarf in a bid to calm it down until firefighters arrived.
But the feisty creature did not make things easy for the crew.
“This turned out to be quite complicated as the squirrel was uncooperative,” the fire department said.
It took several attempts for the crew to free the squirrel before it fled up a nearby tree, apparently unharmed.
A similar rescue was required in the same city back in 2019, when firefighters, police and a veterinary clinic saved a red squirrel that got its head stuck in a manhole cover.
In a statement, the fire department said: “It could not be determined if it was the same squirrel that had to be rescued from the same situation four years ago.”
Red squirrels can be found across Europe and Asia and are thought to have lived in the UK for around 10,000 years, according to the Wildlife Trusts.
