Community Corner

Raccoon Makes Jump of Its Life

As utility workers disturb his home, the mammal runs for safety.

It was a feat that might have only been dared by Evel Knievel.

A raccoon hiding in a rotted part of a tree that had toppled onto the Mill building on Richmondville Avenue in Westport jumped for his life when a chain saw chopped his home in half, leaving him on a ledge.

Utility crews from Connecticut Light & Power, Northeast Utilities and Tennett Tree Services of Windham were working to remove a large pine tree that fell on top of the building after Saturday's storm that resulted in many downed trees and wires and thousands without power.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To remove the tree, workers had cut the tree in half leaving the trunk hanging in the air by a crane and the tree's top lying on the building's roof.

As a crewman was chopping off branches to make the trunk lighter and easier to lower to the ground, a raccoon ran across the length of the trunk to the far edge closest to the building.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After circling the ledge, looking for a way off the airborne trunk, he went for it — jumping several feet more than three stories off the ground and landing on the rooftop.

"He's a jumper," onlookers said after gasping when they weren't sure if he would make it.

Utility officials don't know what happened to the mammal after that. They expect he found his way into a hole in the building's roof or scampered off the other side of the building to find a new home.

Check the accompanying video of the raccoon's jump and the utility's effort to remove the tree.


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