Stuffed or real? Photos show groundhog stuck inside claw machine

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 Meadows 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.

Groundhog rescue draws online applause

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 nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.