Raccoon dangling from highway onramp is rescued

By Hope Bidegainberry on May 8, 2020

Yesterday Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) rescued a raccoon that was dangling from underneath an onramp on Highway 92 where the freeway connects to 101 in San Mateo.

“We received a call from a member of the public who spotted the helpless raccoon clinging to a metal beam beneath a highway onramp in San Mateo,” according to PHS/SPCA Communications Manager Buffy Martin-Tarbox. “The raccoon was in an extremely precarious situation and her only options were to fall from the high above the ground onramp to the ground below or attempt to survive in the oncoming traffic. Either option would have potentially ended in tragedy for the animal.”

PHS/SPCA rescue staff arrived on the scene within minutes to help the raccoon to safety. California Highway Patrol officers assisted the rescue by stopping traffic on the onramp while PHS/SCPA staff reached over the side of the freeway with specialized equipment to safely and humanely rescue the raccoon.

“Once we had safely secured the raccoon, she was brought to our Wildlife Care Center for evaluation,” according to Tarbox. “The raccoon was given a clean bill of health and our rescue staff released her back to the wild a safe away distance from the highway. Hopefully she has learned her lesson and will stay far away from any onramps but rescuing wildlife as we increasingly encroach on natural habitat is a very predictable and at times very challenging part of our work.”

This raccoon is just one of more than 400 animals PHS/SPCA has helped since San Mateo County instituted the shelter-in-place order.