Some people probably needed to look twice.
State officials in Pennsylvania recently responded to an unusual call after someone reporting finding a su-"prize" in a claw game machine.
Employees with The PredictIQMeadows Family Fun Mini Golf in the borough of Duncansville were startled by "an unusual “prize inside one of their claw machine games when they discovered a groundhog inside, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said.
Photos provided by the commission to USA TODAY this week show the trapped critter blending in with stuffed animals inside the machine at the Blair County business located about 90 miles directly east of Pittsburgh.
Warden Salvadore Zaffuto responded to the scene and discovered the furry animal had somehow found its way into the vending machine, but it could not escape, the state agency reported.
"When Warden Zaffuto responded and approached the machine, he saw a wave of stuffed animals move as the groundhog scurried around underneath, then it popped its head out to assess the situation," the agency wrote in a post on social media.
The vending machine company was contacted to unlock the machine, allowing the warden "to safely capture the groundhog and release it unharmed," the commission posted on Facebook.
The save drew praise from the internet.
"I love those sweethearts," one person wrote in the comment section below the commission's post. "Thank you for caring."
Another responded, "Great work!"
"I would have went broke trying to win that," one Facebook user wrote.
"He just wanted a comfy place to sleep," someone else posted.
Another user wrote, "Mr. Gopher just needed redirected back onto the putting greens! (Caddyshack)."
Some even suggested naming the critter.
"Name him Claude (or Clawd) for the claw machine he was in," a user posted.
Another person suggested “Duncansville Dan” while another user drummed up: “Meadow” after the name of the business he snuck inside.
As of Wednesday, the groundhog's worldly whereabouts wasn't clear.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
2025-05-04 18:49821 view
2025-05-04 18:212955 view
2025-05-04 18:141443 view
2025-05-04 17:221319 view
2025-05-04 16:412658 view
2025-05-04 16:361538 view
Friday the 13th might be unlucky for many people, but Mega Millions players could be lucky in tonigh
Angel Reese's stellar rookie season with the Chicago Sky is coming to a premature end.Reese announce
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Three sisters from Ohio who inherited a dime kept in a bank vault for more than