Volunteer rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) jumped into their ambulance after receiving a call about a Fallow Deer buck with full palmate antlers caught in baler twine and a barbed wire fence.
Rescuers Trevor Weeks MBE his partner Kathy Martyn, both from Uckfield, and rescuers Chris Riddington from Eastbourne attended on site.
"The rescue was not an easy one, although the deer was restricted in how far it could move, the fact that it was in a hedge made our rescue attempts very difficult.
"Our first few attempts to pin the deer to the floor using the walk-to-wards net did not work with the deer managing to get up every time. We just couldn’t get the right angle and coverage of the deer to pin it down. We had to take the more risky approach of threading the long net through the fence either side of the deer where we were then able to restrict the deer’s movement.
"From behind a small tree I was also able to grab on of the back legs safely and full the deer to the floor. From there I was then able to get the deer's head covered properly, pin the deer to the floor, and my colleagues Kathy and Chris were then able to start cutting away at the bailer twine." – Trevor Weeks, founder of WRAS
From start to finish the rescue took 15minutes.
It certainly felt like the rescue was going on and on, we struggled to gain control of the deer. The twine was also very difficult to cut being so tightly attached to the antlers. Your heart really races when doing these rescues because you know you are causing stress to the deer and just want to get it cut free and released safely and as quickly as possible. The poor creatures obviously doesn’t realize we are trying to help it. – rescuer Kathy Martyn
East Sussex WRAS is asking anyone walking, visiting or working in the countryside to keep an eye out for baler twine and pick up any discard twine and dispose of it properly and safely.
(ITV News - Jan 26, 2015)
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