Rodent goes viral Groundhog gets lost in vending machine in the USA - rescued
15.08.2024, 12:41
dpa
In Pennsylvania, the groundhog has a very special status: every year, a specimen named Phil appears near the town of Punxsutawney as a weather oracle and predicts how long the winter will last.
But in the middle of summer, another groundhog has become a local celebrity not too far away, and here's how: About two weeks ago, visitors to an ice cream parlor in Hollidaysburg tried to grab stuffed animals from a grab-and-go machine.
When they moved the claw, they were amazed when a real marmot winked at them from the glass box. The rodent was immediately given the name Colonel Custard. This is the name of the ice cream parlor and adjoining mini-golf course where it was discovered.
"Nobody was bitten"
Nobody knows how the marmot got into the building and then into the vending machine, said Lynn Castle, the store manager. Presumably the little Colonel Custard climbed up a funnel connected to the machine and then slipped into the stuffed animals.
It took a whole village to free the marmot from the machine. Employees first called the owners of the machine, but they were reluctant to take matters into their own hands. Then the police arrived, who then notified the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission.
In the end, supervisors opened the machine and let the groundhog scurry into a nearby field, as Castle reported. "It's a good story that ended well. He got free. No one was bitten."
