A raccoon with its head jammed inside a Skippy peanut butter jar was stuck on top of a utility pole in Long Island for several hours Sunday.
The critter was marooned some 30 feet in the air, balanced on top of the pole, with its face covered by the peanut butter jar.
Local fire and police departments in Ronkonkoma said it was too dangerous for them to attempt a rescue because of the live utilities. They deferred to the Long Island Power Authority.
The spectacle created quite a stir on Peconic Street, where children gathered around and began calling the animal "Skippy."
"My husband discovered this around 7 o'clock this morning," said Suzanne Macaluso. "Lots of people in the neighborhood have been coming around."
"We've made many phone calls," she said. "We called animal control, they can't do anything. The Lakeland fire department was here, the police department was here and basically we were told there was nothing we could do to help the little guy up there."
Later Sunday, a LIPA worker with a long pole knocked the jar off the animal's head and he was free to run off.
