Deer rescued after falling through manhole in Parrish

FLORIDA -- A deer is back in the wild after it was rescued from a manhole in Manatee County.

Damen Hurd, the vice president of Wildife, Inc., said he was called to help the deer Tuesday night.

“It fell down a manhole and was stuck down inside of concrete room about 15 feet underground,” he said.

 

Hurd said the deer was walking through the backyards of some homes in the Rye Wilderness neighborhood in Parrish when it fell into the hole.

Hurd said he thinks a tractor had pulled the lid off the storm drain a few days ago, and it was sitting wide open.

No one knows how long the deer was stuck in the hole, but fortunately for the deer, neighbors noticed it and called for help.

Hurd said that with the assistance of veterinarian Bill Bystrom of Palma Sola Animal Clinic, along with some other volunteers, they were able to give the deer a sedative and pull it out.

“We were able to go down with a ladder and with the help from a couple of rescuers, we tied the deer up and had the rest of the people pull him out through the manhole back up top,” he said.

Once the deer was pulled from the hole and the medicine wore off, the deer ran off back into the wild.

“Considering how far he fell, most deer would have broken their leg,” Hurd said. “He landed on the right spot and didn’t break anything. He only got some cuts and bruises. Other than that, he was perfectly fine. It was amazing.”

It was a successful mission that saved the young buck and led to the recovering of the hole.

Wildlife Inc. rescued the deer at no charge. It is a non-profit animal rescue group that is available 24/7.

(Bradenton Herald - November 19, 2014)