Man saves raccoon from suffocation with piece of cheese: video

BURTON, MI – A Genesee County, Michigan man has made news across the country.

William “Boski” Messenger, a Burton resident and business owner, posted a video to his social media showing him saving a raccoon from choking on a piece of cheese.

Yes, you read correctly.

“It was standing on its hind legs,” Messenger said. “My friend Tyler took his flashlight and shone it on him. I don’t know how I knew he was choking, but I started to help him. »

John Ptaszenski recorded the video and Tyler Whalen can be heard coaching him.

The friends were hanging out in Messenger’s backyard, like they usually do, eating and playing games. Around 3 a.m. on June 15, the drama began.

The video shows Messenger patting the raccoon on the back.

“Everything happened so fast,” Ptaszenski said. “Bill had already received five blows to the back from the raccoon before I even decided to take out my phone. I just sat there in disbelief.

Ptaszenki’s video has generated more than 18 million views on TikTok and nearly 300,000 likes on Instagram.

“When John started recording it, we had no idea what was going on,” Messenger said. “We didn’t know he was choking. It was just instinct and I went around the back and tried to dislodge him.

The friends nicknamed the raccoon Rocket, after the “Guardians of the Galaxy” character, but haven’t seen him since.

“I’ve never seen this raccoon before and I’ve lived there for about a decade,” Messenger said, adding that his neighbor regularly saw the raccoon knocking over trash cans. Messenger saw lots of deer and rabbits, probably none choking.

Messenger and friends have received a lot of publicity.

“It’s kind of funny to me,” he said. “Being considered a hero is crazy. But it was really cool to be able to do something like that.

Even if a wild animal appears calm or friendly, people should never approach it due to rabies risks. Healthy and sick raccoons can attack, but a rabid raccoon is more likely to do so, according to Critter Control.

Before the raccoon suffocated, the three men stroked it. The raccoon did not act aggressively, even climbing Ptaszenski’s leg at one point.

The chance of a raccoon choking is very low, but Messenger has one piece of advice: “Don’t go near it,” he says with a laugh. “The only reason we had the courage to approach him was because he spent enough time with us warming up. He wasn’t acting crazy like normal raccoons do.