Another item taken from K M Reeses article in C&EN.

An anonymous caller who wrote, I cant stop laughing, sent in a newspaper story about three janitors who in the utility room of a Californian elementary school tried to euthanize a gopher that a student had found on the school grounds and brought to them.

To that end they sprayed the rodent with several cans of a freezing solvent used to clean gum and wax off floors.

One of the janitors tried to light a cigarette, and the resulting blast blew all three out of the room. All apparently came out OK, as did the 16 pupils who were treated for minor injuries. The gopher was released later in a field.