Nuts! Raccoon gets head stuck in a tree while trying to get food

A hapless raccoon was had to be rescued after getting its head stuck in a tree.

A concerned nearby homeowner called in the professionals and a firefighting crew attended the scene in New Jersey on Monday 9 March.

The Tuckerton Fire Department bought the ladder, while Wayne Tonnesen, a retired New Jersey conservation officer, began the task of trying to extract the small mammal.

A fire department spokesperson said: "Tonnesen attempted to free the animal by hand, but was unable to dislodge it. He then used an air chisel to enlarge the hole and free the raccoon."

Assistant Fire Chief Lee Eggert said the raccoon stuck his head in the knot to get a nut left behind by another animal, explaining: "He had been clawing at the tree for a while."

Free from its woody predicament, and without so much as a grateful wave of the paw, the raccoon scampered off with no apparent injuries.

Back in 2012, the Daily Mail reported about an adorable baby raccoon that got its head stuck in a storm drain. Thankfully, that story had a happy ending, too.