May 12 (UPI) — The summer travel season is nearly upon us, but some enterprising animals have managed to beat the rush and take their vacations early.
Animals are well-known to find themselves in places they shouldn’t be, and often these places turn out to be cars, trucks or ships getting ready for a long journey.
This can lead to curious stowaways ending up hundreds — or even thousands — of miles from home.
Here are five true stories of wildlife wanderlust.
Raccoon stows away to Belarus in shipped car
A raccoon took shelter in what must have appeared to have been a parked car and ended up traveling from the United States all the way to Belarus on a cargo ship in January.
The Customs Authorities of Belarus found the raccoon napping on the dashboard of the car and took it into custody. The raccoon was given a new home at a zoo, where it was introduced to a mate.
Three baby rabbits stow away to oil rig in Europe’s North Sea
A trio of baby rabbits took shelter in a shipping container in Dundee, Scotland, in April and wound up wandering the pipe deck on Ithaca Energy’s Cygnus Platform, about 93 miles off the coast of Lincolnshire, England.
The bunnies were rounded up by workers and given a ride back to shore. They were taken to the New Arc Wildlife Rescue for care.
A wildlife rescue in Scotland is caring for three baby rabbits that stowed away in an offshore container and wound up on the deck of an oil rig in the North Sea. Photo courtesy of Ithaca Energy
Cat stows away for 70-mile ride in Walmart truck
Employees at a Walmart Logistics warehouse in Cornwall, Ontario, found a cat inside a delivery truck that had arrived from a Walmart store in Montreal, about 70 miles away, in April.
The cat’s exact origins were unclear, so employees agreed to care for the cat until its owners could be found.
Opossum stows away to Alaska on cargo ship, gets new home at zoo
An opossum — a creature common to the lower 48 states but considered invasive to Alaska — hitched a ride on a cargo ship in March and wound up in the state’s capital, Juneau.
The opossum, now named Meatball, was given a new home at the Juneau Zoo, which had recently lost its beloved resident opossum, Grubby.
Red fox stows away on cargo ship from England to United States
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers discovered an approximately 2-year-old male fox hiding among the cargo on a ship that arrived in March at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
The fox, which had apparently taken a ride on the ship all the way from Southampton, England, was taken to the Bronx Zoo, where it was found to be in good health.
A red fox is being cared for at the Bronx Zoo after stowing away on a cargo ship from England. Photo courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society
