How many firefighters does it take to rescue a squirrel from a pond?

It's official - we live in a world gone mad filled with lots of crazy people doing insane things. The Telegraph ran a story this morning about a squirrel that became stranded on a tiny island of reeds in the middle of the town centre pond in Watford, Hertfordshire. A local (moron) then called Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue to say that the animal had fallen into the water and could not climb out up the steep concrete banks. This prompted three fire engines and six professional fireman showing up to rescue a squirrel. Talk about overkill!

Apparently the fire crews laid a ladder between the pavement and the island in an attempt to persuade the squirrel to crawl its way back to safety. The squirrel (chances are it was a rat) ended up in the water again, but it managed to swim to the ladder and climb up the rungs to reach dry land, bedraggled but apparently none the worse for its ordeal.

 

Steven Giles-Medhurst, a local Lib-Dem county councillor for Watford, questioned why it was necessary to send such a large response to rescue a wild animal. Typical politician climbs straight in.

 

He said: “They would normally send out three fire engines for a potential loss of human life, such as if a person had fallen into a pond. “On the face of it three fire engines for a squirrel sounds excessive, and maybe questions should be asked as to why there were so many. It really depends how the incident was reported to the fire service.”

 

One shopper spoke of her shock at seeing so many firefighters being deployed to rescue a rodent. Emily Sharman, 39, from Watford, said: “I saw the fire engines arrive and thought there must be a big fire somewhere. I couldn’t believe it when I heard they were going to rescue a squirrel. I was surprised they sent so many firemen for a squirrel. Hopefully it was a quiet day for them.”

 

Fire brigades spent at least £3.5million in three years rescuing animals,including a snail (I would love to find out more about that one), a lost duckling and seven dolphins, according to figures uncovered in 2011. Last year, London Fire Brigade urged people not to dial 999 if a cat gets stuck up a tree after it was inundated with calls about distressed pets.