Raccoon’s embarrassed reaction to being rescued in Georgia has social media laughing

Raccoons are shameless at causing mischief — often at the expense of humans — so the idea of one getting stuck in an embarrassing predicament is funny.

It happened this week in Dalton, Georgia, and the resulting photo is getting laughs on social media.

The raccoon had successfully sneaked into someone’s home, but couldn’t find its way back out, according to the Dalton Fire Department. Dalton is about 90 miles northwest of Atlanta.

“You never know what the day is going to hold when you show up for your shift as a firefighter. Sure, there may be the occasional cat needing to be rescued from a tree, but a raccoon? That’s a new one,” the department wrote on Facebook.

“As you can tell, he was pretty embarrassed about it. ... We all need a helping hand every now and then.”

The raccoon was successfully captured and released back into the wild “where he’ll hopefully be less adventurous in his search for snacks,” the department said.

What makes the rescue all the more humorous is raccoons are known for their intelligence and “ability to outwit human and animal predators alike,” according to fish and wildlife experts.

That may explain why a lot of people are enjoying the raccoon’s bad luck. The photo of its humiliated reaction has racked up 1,200 reactions and shares in the past day.

This includes some people who suspected it was hiding something and just pretending to be embarrassed as a ruse.

“Little bandit caught in the act,” Jenny Porter wrote on Facebook.

“He looks soooooo guilty!” Charlotte Spivey said.

“Any jewelry missing?” another person posted.

This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Raccoon’s embarrassed reaction to being rescued in Georgia has social media laughing."