A fox on a fridge, a lizard in a bra and a snake in a Coronation Street star’s bathroom: RSPCA’s weirdest animal rescues of the year are revealed
- Animal charity RSPCA has revealed its craziest animal rescues from 2021 as the year finally comes to a close
- The list includes the rescue of a 4ft long royal python from the toilet of Coronation Street star Harry Visinoni
- Other rescues include an owl in an extraction fan, a lizard in a bra and a squirrel who got wedged under a patio
The RSPCA has revealed the wackiest animal rescues of the year – including saving a snake from a TV star’s toilet and a lizard which travelled 4,000 miles in a bra.
Hilarious pictures show hapless pets and wild animals trapped in bizarre places before being freed by baffled rescuers.
The charity has compiled 21 of the oddest rescues of 2021, with the weirdest being a snake which slithered out from behind a Coronation Street star’s loo.
Actor Harry Visinoni, who played Seb Franklin before he was killed off in May, was brushing his teeth when he spotted the 4ft long royal python.
The 22-year-old actor dashed out the bathroom of his home in Hale, Cheshire, and called the RSPCA on January 9.
He said: ‘I didn’t take it in at first and then looked again and realised what I had actually seen so I left the bathroom quickly and closed the door.
‘We went back in and watched as the snake then slithered onto the top of the toilet and sat on the seat just looking at us.’
The RSPCA has revealed the wackiest animal rescues of the year – including saving a snake from a TV star’s toilet and a lizard which travelled 4,000 miles in a bra. Pictured: This snake slithered out of his toilet! Coronation Street actor Harry Visinoni
Actor Harry Visinoni, pictured in Coronation Street, was brushing his teeth when he spotted the 4ft long royal python
Animal rescuer Sonia Hulme rescued the snake, named Lulu, which is thought to have escaped from a neighbouring apartment.
Throughout 2021, the RSPCA has received 281,390 reports of trapped animals – one of the charity’s busiest ever years.
Other strange call-outs include a swan which crash-landed through a double-glazed window narrowly avoiding hitting a pensioner.
Jean Wilkinson, 78, heard an ‘enormous explosion’ and walked into her bathroom of her home in Barton in Fabis, Notts., to find shattered glass and an injured swan on the floor on January 11.
She had only been at the sink in front of the window just moments before and the RSPCA say she could have been seriously injured or killed.
Inspector Keith Ellis said: ‘I think the swan was looking and flying to the nearby River Trent and must have misjudged the direction.
A ewe was left feeling rather sheepish after scoring an own goal and getting tangled in netting in Rossendale, Lancashire
A stallion who was desperate to reach his neighbours got himself in an embarrassing spot after getting stuck on a metal gate
Pictured: An Essex gull needed help after getting stuck inside a litter bin (L) and a squirrel trapped in a hole in Leamington Spa
‘It was also quite windy at the time which may have blown her off course. I have seen them crash-land onto busy roads thinking they are rivers – but nothing like this – it is so bizarre.’
Animal rescuers were also left scratching their heads when they rescued a tawny owl which was trapped in an extraction fan.
The hapless bird was found covered in grease and wedged between the fan blades at a disused hotel in York on January 18.
Rescuer Leanne Honess-Heather said: ‘She had no major injuries but she was dehydrated and covered in thick grease so needed a bath.’
On February 5 two badgers needed help after getting trapped between a ladder and a wall by a canal in Torfaen, Wales.
Two rescuers abseiled down the canal wall and grab the badgers with a grasper, with nets below as precautions.
A hedgehog was rescued from a pipe in Banbury, Oxfordshire, (left) while in Nottinghamshire, an elderly woman had a lucky escape after a swan crash-landed through a double-glazed window – just moments after she left the bathroom (pictured right)
A runaway lizard prompted a major rescue mission after he slipped out of his enclosure, climbed out of an upstairs window, scaled the outside wall of his terraced home near Folkestone Harbour, Kent, and settled in to sunbathe on the roof (pictured)
A kitten needed help after he managed to get his head stuck in a rat bait box. Rescuer Jason Finch was on the case in Essex
The second badger jumped into the water but was dragged to safety before they were both released into the wild.
On February 16 a seagull needed rescuing after it got stuck inside a bin under the railway bridge in Chelmsford, Essex.
In March a cat called Rocket used up one of her nine lives after getting trapped 20ft above the ground when she crawled under solar panels of a house in Dinas Powys, Wales.
On April 11 inspectors were called to help a squirrel which was wedged under a garden patio in Leamington Spa, Warks., while searching for nuts.
Inspector Elizabeth Boyd said: ‘The little squirrel had pushed his way into a hole in the ground, probably in search of food, but then got stuck underneath a wooden post.’
The squirrel was finally freed when the homeowner sawed the post in half to give the critter some extra room to move.
A lingerie-loving lizard travelled more than 4,000 miles in a woman’s bra from sunny Barbados to Rotherham, South Yorkshire
A cat became trapped on a roof under a solar panel in Wales (left) while in Berhamsted, a fox cub became stuck in a drain
Need a lift? A motorist had a massive surprise after finding this exotic lizard trapped in a car engine in Devon
Only July 20 a shocked motorist found a large tegu lizard trapped in a car engine in Plymouth, Devon.
On August 8 a fox cub got its back leg stuck in the metal grate of a drain in Berkhamsted, Herts.
Rescuer Lauren Bailey managed to wriggle the cub’s leg free before taking the animal to a wildlife hospital for a check-up.
Just hours later Lauren was called out again when she dashed to Banbury, Oxon, to rescue a hedgehog which was wedged inside a drain pipe.
She said: ‘The rather chunky hedgehog had fallen down an open drain and got wedged around 1ft down inside the tight pipe.
‘I was able to bend and flex some metal coat hangers into a little hook and carefully pull him up and out.’
Two badgers needed help after getting trapped on a ladder in a canal in Torfaen, Wales, (pictured left) while the RSPCA came to the rescue of a tawny owl who fell into the extraction fan in a disused hotel in York, North Yorkshire (pictured right)
RSPCA insp Mitchell Smith to the rescue when a fox got her head stuck in a hole in some wooden decking in Bedfordshire
A spooked dog got stuck behind a water tank. Her owner, June Coates, tried to coax her out but called for back-up from the RSPCA. Rescuer David McAdam went to help Suzie after she got wedged tight in the airing cupboard in Nottingham
On August 10, a randy stallion needed help after getting stuck on a gate trying to climb into a field full of fillies.
Rescuer Tina Nash was called to a field in Rochester, Kent, after a walker spotted the hapless horse straddling the 4ft-high entrance.
She said: ‘He was trying to get to the mares but obviously isn’t the greatest showjumper and got himself stuck halfway.
‘He could have walked along the fence line a little further to see his lady friends.’
Firefighters winched the horse off the gate before he was released back into his paddock.
On August 22 a sheepish ewe scored an own goal after getting tangled in netting in Rossendale, Lancs.
Rescuers were called to a country lane in Conington, Cambs., on August 27 when a motorcyclist spotted a 10ft-long python slithering in the road before it climbed up a tree.
Firefighters were called and they cut the branches back before the snake dropped onto a tarpaulin being held by crews below.
A skunk who’d been on the run was rescued and reunited with his owner after giving staff at a Nottinghamshire shop a shock
In Guildford, a greedy badger got stuck in a compost bin while scavenging for food while in Southwark, London, a not-so-crafty fox caused a stir when it fell 12ft through a café ceiling, triggered the alarm and prompted a police response
A motorcyclist had quite the fright when he was riding along a quiet country lane in Conington, Cambridgeshire, and spotted a huge snake slithering in the road. Rescuer Justin Stubbs went out to help, on 27 August, but the snake had climbed up a tree
Another hilarious rescue involved shocked beautician Lisa Russell who found a lizard had travelled 4,000 miles in her F-cup bra when she flew home from Barbados in September.
Lisa, 47, from Rotherham, South Yorks., said: ‘I thought it was a tiny dead creature and then when it moved I started screaming – it is not what you expect to find in your bra after a 4,000-mile journey.’
The RSPCA caught the cheeky critter before taking him to a specialist reptile keeper.
On September 27, another runaway lizard slipped out of his enclosure and climbed out of a window to sunbathe on the roof of his home in Kent.
RSPCA inspector David Grant said: ‘It’s the first time I’ve ever been called out to rescue an iguana, particularly one on the loose on a roof.’
On October 19, a pet skunk caused a stink after it escaped inside a B&Q store in Worksop, Notts.
Rescuer Dan Bradshaw said: ‘A staff member was opening up when they spotted a flash of black and white dart across the ground outside the shop.
‘He’d been eating bird seed that had fallen off a bird table.’
Meanwhile on October 16 a not-so-cunning fox was rescued after getting its head stuck in wooden decking in a garden in Luton, Beds.
On October 28 a confused kitten got its head stuck in a rat bait box in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex.
On the same day, RSPCA inspectors were also called out to free a dog which got trapped behind a water tank of her home in Nottingham after she got spooked by a loud noise at a nearby building site.
On November 24 a greedy badger needed rescuing after climbing inside a compost bin looking for food in a garden in Guildford, Surrey.
Rescuers were called out to a café in Southwark, London, on December 22 after a fox fell through a ceiling into the kitchen and triggered the alarm which alerted police.
Rescuer Phil Norman said: ‘The café owner who went to investigate and found the rather confused fox standing on the worktop in the kitchen, above the fridges.
‘This is apparently the second time a fox has fallen through their ceiling.’
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