Two teenage boys were walking through their neighborhood when they noticed a crowd gathered around a car. As they approached, they tried to understand what was happening, but what they saw was like nothing they had ever encountered before. An animal appeared to be frozen, unable to move.
Realizing the urgency, the boys knew they needed to act fast to save the creature, but they weren’t sure how. This unusual discovery was made by Jaydon Pettipas and Aidan Hart in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, as reported by CBC.
By the end of the day, these two teens would be hailed as heroes for their quick thinking. When they saw the crowd, they felt compelled to find out what had captured everyone’s attention. However, even up close, they couldn’t recognize what the animal was. It seemed frozen solid, appearing lifeless.
The creature was a squirrel trapped under a car, its body covered in foam insulation. The boys realized the animal was likely on the brink of death. Fifteen-year-old Jaydon commented, “There was nothing recognizable about it.”
The boys rushed to a nearby store to get a small milk carton to help contain the squirrel, even though they weren’t sure how to aid it. As the situation grew more critical, they turned to their family and friends for help. Jaydon’s mom made a call to someone 20 miles away, who advised her to bring the animal to them immediately.
Dr. Melanie Eagan from St. George Veterinary Clinic said, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She explained that the squirrel was trapped in the foam so tightly that it couldn’t move its back legs. Without the boys’ quick actions and their mother’s help in transporting the animal, it likely would not have survived.
The vet speculated that the squirrel had been living in a garage or shed and accidentally gotten caught in the foam while someone was sealing a draft. “It looks like someone was trying to seal a hole to keep a draft out when this little guy ran through it while it was still wet,” she said. “That stuff hardens pretty fast, though, so he wouldn’t have been in trouble for long.”
The process of removing the foam was lengthy and involved using rubbing alcohol to free the squirrel’s fur. Afterward, the animal was combed out, though it lost some of its fur in the process. Thankfully, the squirrel has since returned to the wild.
Thanks to the quick actions of these two caring teens, the animal was saved. Please share this story to honor their incredible efforts!
