In what's proven to be a wild past few days for Bay Area animal rescues, San Francisco firefighters safely removed a small trash panda that was trapped in a tree Saturday night; the perpetually tired-looking mammal has since been named "Freedom."

An adult emu was on the loose Friday in the East Bay. A large panther chameleon was rescued by the Peninsula Humane Society on Wednesday — and reunited with its owner before the weekend. And last night, a crying baby raccoon was freed after being stuck in a V-shaped tree.

According to the San Francisco Firefighter Department’s Twitter account, residents in West Portal near 15th as Santiago streets reported "loud cries and screams" in the area Saturday night. San Francisco Animal Care & Control (SFACC) heeded the call — where responders discovered a baby raccoon had managed to wedge itself in a forking tree. Alas, it was clear the only way to free the yet-sexed (but maybe male?) endotherm was to have City firefighters dislodge it.

"After a few minutes of rescue work, the raccoon was free only to clutch and hold onto the firefighters who had just saved its life," reads one of the tweets. "In light of recent events, we have named him — FREEDOM."

"Freedom" is currently in the care of SFACC and is expected to be released back into the wildlife safely — having made "a few new friends who will always be there if needed."

Raccoons are the largest members of the Procyonidae family — a faunal kinship that includes coatis, kinkajous, and ringtails — and can weigh as much as 57 lbs. Raccoons, aside from dauntlessly strolling through Golden Gate Park in large groups, are also proving to be more intelligent than previously thought, with new studies showing they can remember solutions to problems for years.

Related: So... Did Anyone Recently Lose an Emu in the East Bay?

"A chameleon that was rescued from a power line in Daly City earlier this week has been reunited with its owner." [SFist]

Image: Courtesy of Twitter via SFFDPIO