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Raccoon seen hitching ride on Virginia garbage truck, travels miles

A raccoon, like the one pictured above, hitched a ride on the back of a Virginia garbage truck and traveled miles before the driver stopped and police helped catch and release him.

It was quite a startling sight for Politico reporter Helena Evich, who snapped a picture of a raccoon holding on to the back of a garbage truck for dear life as the truck drove through an Arlington neighborhood.

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“This raccoon is having a rough morning- just wanted some trash and ended up in Rosslyn,” Evich tweeted along with the photo on Friday.

“And, yes, I alerted the driver,” she said.

Rosslyn is a suburb of Arlington, Virginia.

Evich called the company, American Disposal Services, and the police.

“The company was super responsive,” she tweeted.

It turned out the animal rode on the back of the truck for miles into Falls Church, Virginia, where the driver eventually stopped, and with help from the police, caught the raccoon and released it into a nearby park, according to a police statement.

The company and police confirmed the raccoon was not injured and appeared to be just fine.