Utica Men Rescue Skunk Trapped Inside a Water Bottle
Two Utica men are being praised for the rescue of a skunk, who was found in a "tight" situation.
Luis Torres and Dave Lasek were getting ready to go into work, when they noticed they noticed the skunk squirming in the yard, trying to get out of the bottle. So, despite their fear, they knew they needed to step in to help.
Lasek recorded the whole interaction, and according to Torres, they considered calling someone. But after looking, they figured they could do it themselves.
"It took us about 10 minutes to get it off. He was walking real slow and you can tell he was disoriented and scared."
In the video captured, you can tell both were hesitant, but got the bottle off and rushed away to avoid being sprayed.
"Not gonna lie I was so scared I was gonna get sprayed," said Torres. "At one point, he kinda laid down, as if he knew I was trying to help, and when he did that’s why just went for the bottle and got it off of its head."
Note: Some language in this video is NSFW.
In this particular circumstance, we don't know if someone purposely littered the plastic bottle, or if it somehow blew out of a local recycling bin. Regardless, a situation like this could have been prevented. Instead of using a plastic bottle, a reusable one can be used instead.
According to the National Wildlife Foundation, humans dispose of trillions of tons of garbage every year. The average person in a developed country produces about 2.6 pounds of garbage every single day.
Here's just a few things you can do to help wildlife avoid situations like this:
- Cut back on the amount of trash you produce.
- Opt for reusable items instead of single-use products.
- Recycle as much of your trash as you can.
- Join local efforts to pick up trash.
- Keep streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and storm drains free of trash.
- Don’t litter. Common litter includes plastic bags, paper, candy wrappers, fast-food packaging, bottle caps, glass bottles, plastic six-pack rings and plastic straws.