Baby raccoons rescued from inside wall of city library

May 1 (UPI) -- Animal control officials in a New Jersey city said a litter of four baby raccoons were rescued from inside the walls of a public library.

Debbie Nagel, animal control supervisor for the City of Long Branch, said she responded to the Long Branch Public Library on Thursday after staff members reported hearing noises coming from the ceiling.

Nagel said a mother raccoon and her kits were found inside the ceiling and she made arrangements to have the animals removed the following day.

She said the mother was trapped Friday morning, but rescuers ran into a new obstacle -- she had moved the babies.

Library maintenance supervisor Dwayne Dentz sounds coming from behind the wall near a first-floor elevator and library staff ended up calling on help from the city's Department of Public Works to review blueprints and figure out how to reach the raccoons.

Rescuers said they had to cut through drywall, brick and steel to reach the raccoons, which were reunited with their mother at the Monmouth County SPCA.

"A huge thank you to Deb Nagel and Dwayne Dentz who worked tirelessly to rescue the babies alive," library director Tonya Garcia wrote on Facebook. She thanked all of the rescuers for "ensuring another happy ending at the Library."

Officials said the raccoons will eventually be released back into the wild.