Retired Marine rescues raccoon stuck on bridge
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PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (WMUR) — The owner of a Portsmouth fitness center had a day to remember, coming to the aid of an animal in need. It took some work to reach a raccoon that had gotten itself into a tough spot, and it was something you should not try yourself.
It was a chilly start to the day when Alec Liberman looked out the window of his houseboat on the Piscataqua River and noticed something moving on a nearby bridge.
“It was obviously a raccoon walking back and forth along this pylon trying to get off of it,” Liberman said.
Hours passed with the raccoon still stuck on that pylon.
“I have no idea how it got down there but it definitely, I could tell, couldn’t figure out how to get off,” Liberman said.
The Marine veteran, deployed twice to Afghanistan, worked up a plan to reach the raccoon.
“I ran to Home Depot, got a rope, tapped on my neighbor’s door, ‘Can you give me a hand? Sure,’ want to climb down a bridge and go get a raccoon in a bag,” Liberman said.
He tied the rope to the hand railing, swung it over the side, climbed down and over to where the raccoon was curled into a ball. He said it did not resist the assistance.
“I let it smell me a little bit, then with gentle coaxing I got it inside my seabag,” Liberman said.
After consulting with animal rescue, Liberman was told if the raccoon appeared uninjured he could then release it back into the woods.
“Took it nearby in the neighborhood, found a nice calm spot, opened the crate. Looked at me, walked out and climbed a tree,” he said.
Officials do not suggest attempting a rescue like this on your own. But Liberman and others were glad to see the raccoon happy in the woods again.
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