Police rescue baby raccoon trapped under SUV hood

EMERYVILLE, Calif. – A baby raccoon halted Northern California traffic after he crawled inside the engine compartment of an SUV stopped at a traffic signal.

The East Bay Times reports that police Lt. Fred Dauer thought he had come across a traffic accident in Emeryville on Friday when he saw cars parked and people standing around using their cellphones.

But he quickly learned they had stopped because the driver of an SUV believed a raccoon he saw in the street had climbed inside his vehicle.

Dauer opened the hood and used a pole to free the 5- to 6-week-old raccoon, whom an animal officer named “Throttle.”

The raccoon was taken to a shelter and is being transferred to a San Francisco wildlife rescue centre.

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Information from: East Bay Times, http://www.eastbaytimes.com