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A young buck, tangled in a rope that tethered him to a tree and picnic table in a remote area near a Menlo Park home, was rescued and safely released back into the wood.
A Wildlife Care Center team from the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA staged the rescue after receiving a call from the property owners. The rope had become tangled around the buck’s antlers, and rescuers say without their intervention, the animal would have died from lack of food and water.
“We received a call from a resident of the property who saw the deer and called us for assistance,” Buffy Martin Tarbox, the organization’s communications manager, said. “The resident hadn’t been in that section of the large property since before Labor Day, so it’s possible the buck had been trapped in the rope and unable to free himself for a number of days.”
The buck was so ensnared in the rope that he had only limited movement, and rescuers needed to tranquilize the animal for his own safety.
The buck was given a low dose of tranquilizer, Tarbox said, delivered from a blowpipe. Once sedated, the team worked quickly to cut the rope away from his antlers and check the animal for injuries.
“Despite his ordeal, the buck had no injuries,” Tarbox said, “and after about 15 minutes he woke from the tranquilizer and was able to walk to a nearby creek where he drank water.”
The resident continued to monitor the deer and reported that he was walking fine and had moved away from the area.
Animals, especially wildlife, can easily become entangled in rope, wire, string and fishing line, all of which can cause life-threatening injuries and even death. PHS/SPCA is asking that people ensure proper storage and cleanup of debris that can cause harm to wildlife.
Those aren’t the only things that wildlife can get trapped by. Soccer nets left out overnight cause a number of injuries and incidents, as do fake cobweb Halloween decorations, which should be limited to indoor use only.
PHS/SPCA’s Wildlife Care Center successfully rehabilitates 1,200 to 1,400 animals each year and is entirely funded by private donations.
