TSA dog handler dubbed 'Groundhog Whisperer' after rescuing animal from airport runway

A Transportation Security Administration canine handler in Virginia gained a new partner after saving a groundhog from an airport runway.

TSA Explosives Detection Canine Handler Shelby Tibbs was training his partner, a German shorthaired pointer named Dux, around an airport runway at Washington Dulles International Airport when he noticed a groundhog running around.

He felt concerned about the animal after seeing it run for cover, apparently suffering from the weather, according to a statement from the TSA.

"It was really hot that day, and the tarmac felt like more than 100 degrees," Tibbs said. "I ran him down, wrapped the leash around him several times and picked him up."

Tibbs, who has a background in animal control and is vaccinated against rabies,  said he was careful handling the groundhog, so he wouldn't harm it, and he wrapped a leash around its snout, so it couldn't bite him.

While Dux stayed in an air-conditioned car, Tibbs worked with Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority personnel to get the groundhog to a creek outside the airport where it was safely released. 

Tibbs said he was glad to help out the small critter, and fellow airport personnel have started calling him the “Groundhog Whisperer.”

“I think he wanted to catch a flight to someplace cold because it was very hot that day. I guess he couldn’t buy a ticket,” Tibbs joked. “But he was a very good passenger while we drove to the nearby creek.”

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jord_mendoza.