WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Iowa wildlife experts have released two squirrels after a vet removed electrical zip ties from around their necks, including one with a bell attached.
Dreama Bartz with the Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project said Wednesday that she trapped the animals this month after a Waterloo resident called to report the apparent cruelty.
A vet helped to remove the ties and determined the squirrels were not hurt before they were released back into the neighborhood where they were found.
Bartz thinks a resident captured the squirrels as infants and let them go months later, after realizing the frisky pair wouldn’t works as pets.
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She thinks the zip ties and bell were ways to keep track of them.
Bartz says the squirrels could have been choked by the ties as they grew.