Two Michigan police officers are credited with rescuing a baby raccoon that was trapped in a barrel of sludge.
The Flint Journal reports Officers Maria Reed and Timothy Hilliker were responding to a call Tuesday about a strange screaming noise in Flint, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, and found the trapped animal.
The Flint Police Department says in a statement that the raccoon "was running out of energy and nearly drowning." Police say Hilliker knocked over the barrel to free the raccoon and an area resident helped officers clean it up with a hose and dry it off.
Reed cradled the raccoon in a towel as it recovered and the animal got something to eat. Police contacted a local animal rescue to care for the raccoon.