This wiggling tail belongs to a snake!
A snake who needs help because he's stuck in a utility hole cover.
Luckily, someone called in a pro, Bruce, the snake rescuer.
But even Bruce had never seen anything like this.
The snake's back half was above ground,
which meant the other half was down there.
This poor little guy was totally stuck,
trapped in a dark hole, alone,
and probably feeling really scared.
But Bruce didn't waste any time.
He lifted the heavy iron cover and brought the snake into the light.
The snake was probably so relieved to be out of that hole,
but really frightened too.
After all, he was still stuck, and a scared snake might try to bite.
So Bruce had to be careful.
Luckily, his new friend turned out to be a harmless,
nonvenomous gopher snake.
So even though he still needed to be cautious around this wild animal,
it was one less thing he had to worry about.
But he still had no idea how he was gonna get the snake unstuck.
Bruce tried gently pushing the snake
and gently pulling the snake.
No good.
He wouldn't budge.
Meanwhile, the snake kept trying to slither away,
but he couldn't move an inch.
The snake's belly looked a little swollen, which probably wasn't helping.
And to make things even worse,
the solid iron cover was really heavy.
Bruce was having trouble holding it up while he worked to get the snake loose.
He didn't want to accidentally drop it and hurt the snake even more.
He wished he had two sets of hands...
and his wish came true, sorta,
because another person happened to walk by.
Bruce asked them
if they would hold the cover for him while he focused on freeing the snake.
And even though that person was a teeny bit afraid of snakes...
OK, they were actually pretty afraid,
but they still helped!
Sometimes all it takes is a couple of fingers to be a hero.
With both hands now free,
Bruce got right back to work.
The snake was probably still feeling scared, but he stayed calm.
It was almost like he knew these people were trying to help.
He didn't want to make their job harder by getting defensive.
But even if the snake was beginning to feel safer,
Bruce was growing more worried.
He desperately wanted to help this snake, but nothing he tried was working.
Just when Bruce was starting to think this rescue was impossible,
more people stopped to help,
and they brought something super useful.
Baby oil.
The perfect tool to unstick snakes.
They squirted baby oil all over the snake's belly.
Then they started wiggling.
Slowly. Slowly.
Come on.
They wiggled for what felt like forever,
until finally...
the snake was free!
Bruce was so happy, and so was the snake.
It had taken the rescuers over an hour to pull the snake free.
And after Bruce cleaned off the oil and made sure the snake was OK,
it was time for the best part of any snake rescue:
a safe release back into the wild.
After a final goodbye kiss, of course.
As he glided out of Bruce's hands, the snake thought about his rescuers,
strangers who had come together when he needed them the most
and pulled off an incredible rescue.