Firefighters rescue squirrel with head stuck in a tree

The A-shift crew from Engine 38 responded to a distraught 911 caller who had reported the case of a squirrel who had somehow managed to get his head lodged in the knothole of a tree and was unable to free himself. Whether squirrels have a “reverse” gear remains a mystery, but said squirrel had found himself with his front half stuck inside the interior of the tree while his back half remained unprotected. The caller was (rightly so) very concerned as the squirrel had apparently been there for some time; left unaided, he surely would have died a slow and unpleasant death, either from starvation, the elements, or a predator.

Video credit: © Austin Fire Department/Firefighter Austin Konopik