An unfortunate animal had fallen into the gray slurry overnight, becoming trapped in the heavy mixture. Looking closer, the workers realized the animal was, in fact, an older raccoon.
The workers lowered a long wooden plank into the cement and the raccoon grasped on. Clearly exhausted, the raccoon slowly began to hoist herself up the slippery plank. As she reached the lip of the vat, she attempted to walk along the edge, but slipped and fell back into the well of concrete.
Her fur was turning to stone, but she refused to give up.
“We were really in a quandary,” Linda Searles, director of SWCC, told The Dodo. “How do we get rock-hard concrete off a raccoon?”
“If you’ve ever had concrete on your hands, you know it can be really tough on your skin,” she added.
The rescuers sedated the raccoon and worked to get her temperature back to normal with warming blankets. However, a new problem arose when the heat from the blankets began drying the cement.
After a soak in vinegar-infused water followed by a soothing oatmeal bath, the raccoon’s skin returned to a healthy pinkish hue and the concrete dust was gone.
“She’s doing well health-wise. She really loves her diet. She’s getting lots of really great food — fruits, vegetables and mealworms — all different types of stuff that she really likes,” Searles said. “For now, she’s just resting and recovering from her ordeal. It must have been terrifying to be in a vat of liquid concrete all night.”
“She’s an older raccoon and has lost quite a few of her teeth,” Searles said. “After she puts some weight on and grows her hair back, the doctor will reevaluate her and decide if she’s a candidate for release.”
For now, the raccoon is enjoying her well-deserved break and is so grateful to her rescuers who found her in the nick of time.