Badger rescued from empty water treatment tank at British plant

Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Animal rescuers in Britain were summoned to a water treatment plant to assist a badger stuck in an empty treatment tank.

The East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service said rescuers Trevor Weeks and Keith Ring responded to Southern Water's treatment works when staff spotted a badger that had fallen into an empty concrete water treatment tank.

The rescuers climbed into the tank using a ladder, and Ring used a yellow stretcher to guide the badger toward Weeks, who ensnared the animal in a net.

The men said getting the badger from the net into a transportation crate proved challenging.

"This is easier said than done as badgers are very strong animals. They don't have a scruff like foxes so can be difficult to control," Weeks said in a WRAS Facebook post.

A veterinarian at East Sussex WRAS's Casualty Center examined the badget, and found the creature to be free of serious injuries.

The rescuers said they waited until late night to release the badger back into the wild near the plant.

"It would not be safe to release him during the day, so our rescuers released him late at him when the roads are quieter and its safer for him to run back home," veterinarian Lourdes Cortes Saez said.