Video shows Burton man save choking raccoon
By Alyssa Erwin
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BURTON, Michigan (WJRT) — Being hailed a hero, Bill Boski is the Raccoon Rescuer, along with his two buddies, Tyler Whalen who coached the life-saving effort and John Ptaszenski, the man behind the camera.
“Initially, when it came up, it was acting skittish,” explained Boski. “It arched its back up like it was ready to attack. We were keeping our distance. After a little while, it grew comfortable with us. It was just kind of roaming around all over the yard.”
Boski said he normally sees wildlife in his yard in Burton, but Friday night, a raccoon was friendly around the campfire.
“For-Mar is right down the road, so there is deer back here all the time,” he explained. “But it’s the first time I’ve seen a raccoon that is hanging out with us like it’s our friend or something.”
His other two buddies recount the interesting evening.
“We’re hanging out, and it realized we weren’t a threat to it, so it got closer to us to let us pet it,” said Ptaszenski. “It even climbed up on my leg.”
After a few minutes, the trio said they noticed the raccoon making weird noises.
“It delved into our trash. It looked like he had a piece of cheese with him, and as he was eating it, he started choking. It did this weird thing. It reared up on his hind legs,” said Whalen. “Next thing I know, Billy is over there patting him on the back.”
Boski said he went to the raccoon and started doing what he was taught to try and save someone from choking.
The three friends said it was an unreal sight in disbelief. In the video captured by Ptaszenski and shared with ABC 12, you see Boski patting the animal. That’s when his friend Tyler Whalen started to coach, telling him to pat lower.
“Without my coach over there telling me the proper way to do it, it probably wouldn’t have lived,” said Boski. “So, it’s pretty awesome.”
It was a moment that seemed to have saved the animal’s life.
Now, the video has over 17 million views on TikTok, almost 200,000 likes on Instagram and the video has made its rounds on Facebook.
“I was really excited for the little guy,” said Whelan. “He was in a bad way, and it could have been really horrible, but it all worked out. I was really impressed. I did not expect all of this viralness to happen.”
The friends said if it wasn’t for the video, many would not have believed the effort happened.
You can watch here on @alexptaszenski’s TikTok, redshadow1891’s Instagram and Boski’s Facebook.
It’s very common to spot a raccoon in an urban environment, but this raccoon found some new human friends, who Ptaszenski explained have been buddies for 20 years.
“We named him Rocket from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,'” said Ptaszenski.
The trio said they keep a lookout for their buddy and will welcome him back anytime.
“Rocket has not returned, but Friday, we are hoping to see him,” said Boski.
The DNR does advise to stay away from wild animals, but there are stories about someone being in the right place at the right time.
According to the DNR’s website, “Many wildlife are well adapted to living near people, and as they become accustomed to humans, they may cause conflicts. Options for handling issues will vary by species.”
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