Car wash workers find groundhog in front bumper of customer's car

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Workers at an Indiana car wash made a shocking discovery while examining the front bumper of a customer's car -- a stuck groundhog.

The woman took her car to Mike's Car Wash in Fort Wayne to be cleaned after a bird got stuck in the front grille and employees were looking at the front bumper when they spotted the groundhog.

The car wash workers took the vehicle next door to Jiffy Lube, where employees called Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control for assistance.

The Jiffy Lube workers set about disassembling the front of the car to reach the animal.

"It was definitely an odd day at work, last thing I expected was to be pulling apart a front bumper to remove a groundhog," Jiffy Lube worker Dalton Brenneke told WPTA-TV.

He said the animal was not eager to leave the vehicle.

"He was cute but definitely mad that we were trying to take him from his warm home. We ended up having to take off the front skid-plate to give him room to leave the engine bay," Brenneke said. "After we got him out, he ran to the back of the car and hopped up in the rear suspension. Had to take off the left rear tire to get him out."

The groundhog, nicknamed Mike by rescuers, was taken away by the FWACC officer to be checked for injuries.