A struggling bug

Outside on our back patio there is a giant black beetle bug on it's back, trying to simulate the bicycle motion with all 6 legs. He has several tufts of Wrigley's fur tangled between a few of the legs and it's sooo sad to watch him struggle. Tom's on the golf course (actual course he belongs to, not our putting green) so I called to let him know that he needs to come home straight away so we can perform a fur retraction procedure on this beetle bug. He didn't seemed thrilled with the notion of having to take part in beetle surgery but we need to help this poor guy. It's so sad to watch him suffer. I would try to do it myself but I need Tom there for moral support. He should be home in an hour so until then I covered up the bug with some cardboard to shade him from the hot sun and I'm keeping Wrigley indoors.

9:31am
Bug is barely alive, I need to perform procedure right now. I just came back into the house to get some tweezers and... I have no clue what else??? Towels? Maybe just a wash cloth. And some Bactine?? No that might kill him. Also, I need to use something to hold him down while I pull out the tangled fur. Maybe just the eraser side of a pencil would work. I want something soft so I don't accidentally stab through him. Ok I need to gather my tools and head out STAT!

9:50
Surgery was a success!!! I'm so thrilled! Although not as easy as they make it look on shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy. The beetle was barely moving when I got out there but I was able to gently hold the back part of him down with the pencil eraser so I could pull out the clump of fur without lifting him up along with it. It took a few tries and he almost lost a leg in the ordeal (but that would probably be ok, he has 5 more) because the fur was completely wrapped around it like a spool of twine. But now he's back to crawling around! I didn't take any before pics or video because I didn't get my camera until after the procedure was finished since I didn't have a second to waste. But here is part of the wad of fur that was removed...


And here is some video of his recovery...
(post surgery hydration and removing another piece of fur, also noticing a little bit of wing damage)


(one last final bit of fur removed. he's on the road to recovery)


I'm going to keep an eye on him and see if he needs any follow up procedures. I'm hoping a few rounds of physical therapy might do the trick on that wing.

11:00am
Tom and I headed out to check on the little patient and he was flying (although a bit unsteady) around the flowers! He started buzzing towards me so I screamed and ran towards the house and Tom's like, "What the heck are you afraid of? 10 minutes ago you were close to giving the damn thing mouth to mouth and NOW you're scared??? He's right. I think this was a huge breakthrough for all of us.