DESPERATE DEER: A busy bird summer ended with two rescues of entangled deer.
The first was a young buck that had walked into the fishing net around a garden that was supposed to keep him out.
By the time Powell River Orphaned Wildlife Society (PROWLS) was called, he was on the ground, unable to move at all.
Deer can be very dangerous, so precautions were taken to immobilize the poor young thing even more.
Two pairs of scissors flew through the net and the young buck stopped struggling, appearing to understand that he was being freed. The net removed and he was released, to gingerly walk to the edge of the yard and catch his breath.
Six days later another call came, for a buck with a tablecloth stuck on his antlers and covering his face. Again, PROWLS went out and joined the people already trying to corral him.
Although he could not see where he was going, he led us on a merry chase along Marine Avenue and through several yards before we managed to box him in on a narrow path down to the beach.
The large, six-point buck chose to go back up the path to try to get around the people at the top, only to be grabbed and thrown to the ground by PROWLS volunteer Dawson, then pinned down by the others, while PROWLS volunteer Barry cut what turned out to be a hammock off the antlers.
There was a countdown and all the people working on the buck jumped back at once, again for safety, and he went over the side of the path, onto the beach and into the ocean. After wading for a while, he had calmed down and came up onto shore, avoiding us.
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