Couple Saves Chubby Prairie Dog from Hole in Road

Couple Saves Chubby Prairie Dog from Hole in Road

If you drive a car, you've seen roadkill on occasion. But how often do you actually see a "road rescue"? This save from danger might be one of a kind.

A couple driving along a rural road on the Olkhon Island of Russia discovered a cute and chubby prairie dog in need of some immediate assistance. It was unable to push itself out of a hole in the middle of the road. Now just to clarify, a prairie dog is not a canine but a rodent that feeds on grass, roots, and seeds. It lives in small burrows with entrances ranging in size from 4 inches to 1 foot in diameter. Prairie dogs also use up to six entrances to navigate across and around their territories. And it seems as if this little guy was stuck trying to get out of its tunnel system, perhaps because of damage to the entrance made by passing traffic.

The traveling couple liberated the animal by using a little elbow grease and a small blue towel to pull it out of the opening. Judging by the large rodent's reaction — a lack of gratitude upon being yanked from its dusty enclosure and its hasty departure to the roadside bushes — it just might have been a little traumatized.