KITTERY, Maine — What would you do if you saw an animal stranded above a body of water? On Earth Day, Mainer Alec Liberman, 33, faced this dilemma when he saw a raccoon on the bridge that connects Badgers Island to Kittery.
Liberman told NEWS CENTER Maine that he saw the raccoon walking back and forth on along a pylon on Thursday morning. He said he called animal control, but got the sense that they would not respond, so he decided to take matters into his own hands two hours later when he saw the animal curling up due to cold and windy weather.
Liberman used rope to climb down the bridge and a green duffel bag to escort the raccoon to safety.
“He was much friendly than I expected him to be,” Liberman said. “So I let him smell me and then on the second time around I just kind of scooped him into the bag.”
After securing the raccoon, he said he called a friend who knew what to do in these situations, and with advice from Animal Control, returned the animal to the nearby Kittery woods. He said the whole interaction, from the decision to save the animal to releasing it animal back into the wild, took about two hours.
Liberman said while this was his first time climbing a bridge to save a raccoon, he has been to Afghanistan twice while serving in the Marines. Currently, he owns On Target Fitness LLC in Portsmouth.
Liberman said he has no idea how the raccoon got itself in the dangerous spot.
“I wish I would’ve looked around a little bit more but I was more focused on the mission,” he said.
