It was anything but an ordinary day for Palo Alto's finest in animal control when Officer Cody Macartney answered the call of duty to rescue a plump beaver from the confines of Matadero Creek. The unusual sighting reported by a concerned citizen turned into a full-fledged wildlife operation when the 61-pound critter was in a serious pickle, huddled in leaves, and lacking the usual peppy demeanor of its kindred spirits.

In a rare instance, with local environmentalists sitting up to take notice, the beaver was discovered in a dire state, not far from the old Fry’s Electronics—a surprising location given the species' historical brush with extinction in Northern California. Officer Macartney, who's seen his fair share of feathers and fur over the past 21 years, had never before encountered a beaver needing his rescue skills. "We don’t see something like this every day," he admitted in a statement obtained by SFGate, emphasizing the novelty of this whiskered dam-builder's plight.

While the concrete-lined channel might have offered a lunar landscape to the unsuspecting beaver, Macartney's mission was clear. Donning waders and tiptoeing with a net and towel at the ready, the dauntless officer captured the lethargic animal, according to the official Palo Alto Animal Control Facebook page. In Macartney's words, the transfer to the cozy crate in his truck was a negotiation of sorts with the hefty rodent.

At the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, the beaver’s condition was quickly assessed as more serious than an impromptu bay area sightseeing attempt. "She was extremely lethargic and her body temperature was low," explained Ashley Kinney, hospital manager, in a segment reported by SFGate. Though unhurt physically, the creek denizen was not out of the woods, and the staff needed to figure out if something neurological or internal had put the damper on this dam engineer's day.

History squeaks for itself when it comes to beavers traversing the Bay Area—they were practically wiped clean off the map during the California fur rush. Experts like Rick Lanman, who found a beaver skull from 1855 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, have had to piece together the puzzle of the beavers' historical habitations. "That has gone on to cause inbreeding and a loss of the healthy genetic pool," lamented Bill Leikam, president and co-founder of the Urban Wildlife Research Project.