Acting Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said cars that were traveling both ways across the bridge came upon the buck about 10:30 p.m. where it had stopped and had become frozen in the headlights. The buck panicked and then jumped off the bridge toward the Gulf River.
Animal Control Officer Paul Murphy went to the scene but could not find the animal.
At 10 a.m. the next morning, police received a call about a deer stuck in the water at low tide.
The Cohasset Harbormaster located the deer by boat, which was across from the last house on Blackhorse Lane.
A landscaper who was working in the area provided police with a rope that was used to lasso its antlers.
Detective James McLean, Sergeant Garrett Hunt, and Officer Gregory Taylor pulled the deer to shore where it was clear the animal’s back legs were in bad shape, police said.
Police contacted Dr. Fawn Stevenson of Crazy Paws on Pleasant Street and the Animal Rescue League. Stevenson responded along with veterinary technicians Brian Michaels and Katia Stevenson.
Dr. Stevenson said the buck, which had a broken jaw, had also sustained a spinal injury paralyzing its hind legs and could not be salvaged. The deer was given morphine and a sedative so its injuries could be assessed, she said.
“Unfortunately, the deer had no ability to move so it was given a euthanasia solution,” she said.
Stevenson, who served as director of the New England Wildlife Center for a couple of years and worked in wildlife conservation before attending veterinary school, said the Animal Rescue League arrived and took the deer to Angel View Pet Crematory in Middleboro where it was cremated.
She said likely the deer did not break its back when it jumped into the water or it would have sunk. The injury probably occurred when the deer, full of adrenalin, was thrashing about so much in the mud overnight.
(The Patriot Ledger - Oct 1, 2013)
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