Raccoon rescue in North Cambridge goes grate with a dousing of olive oil from helpful neighbor

A raccoon with its head stuck in a storm drain grate drew a crowd of firefighters and other city workers Thursday who struggled to free the animal for more than an hour before being able to release it nearby.

The raccoon climbing to street level from a storm drain got its head and neck through a grate at the end of Harvey Street, near the Alewife Linear Park in North Cambridge, before getting stuck. Its struggles were reported to Animal Control around 7:30 a.m.

The raccoon was described as “not very cooperative” with rescuers, who were trying to hold it still to keep it from getting hurt. Over time as many as 10 workers gathered to help the animal, watched by a few residents, said a passerby, Charlie Teague.

“When I remarked that is was great everybody cared about an animal, a fireman said they are on the job anyway and that this is a good training,” Teague said.

The rescuers first poured water on the raccoon; it was already nearly 80 degrees on a day that would see highs of 93. Firefighters and Public Works crews wanted Animal Control with them for the raccoon rescue “so it doesn’t freak” once the grate was lifted, according to scanner reports.

Once the grate was up and the unhappy raccoon was out of the drain and on the street, soapy water was applied. A Harvey Street resident next provided olive oil to help free the raccoon.

Cambridge fire Lt. Paul Morrison described the successful maneuver as “similar to the way they teach us to kind of manipulate a baby if it doesn’t want to just come out the way it naturally would. We kind of put a little backward pressure on it and manipulated the head, and eventually we were able to get it out.”

Morrison expressed relief that the raccoon was released in the “least invasive way possible,” without the use of drills.

After checking that the raccoon didn’t seem hurt, the crews released it to the wooded area at the end of the street. A fire department statement called the rescue “a total team effort.”

The Cambridge Department of Public Health weighed in on Facebook, commenting “Go team! Glad to see the Cambridge community come together to help this lovely raccoon.”

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