A DEER was entangled in woodland, located in Crowborough, with a large quantity of football netting around its antlers.
A team of trained rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) responded at 1pm to reports of a deer entanglement off Redbridge Lane on New Year’s Day.
The team consisted of Keith Ring, Daryl Farmer, Ollie Long and Julie Stafford attended on site along with a WRAS Veterinary Ambulance.
The tree density made it problematic for the team to approach the deer. The team made the area accessible which allowed Keith to safely gain control by grabbing one of the rear legs.
Video sourced from East Sussex WRAS Facebook page
The team cut the netting but the thickness of the netting, combined with the internal wire, slowed down their efforts.
Within 10 minutes the team successfully released the deer back into the wild.
After reviewing the situation, rescuers believe it was possible a well-meaning person may have released the deer from a football goal structure and the deer ran off with the netting tangled to its antlers.
East Sussex WRAS said this should always be avoided and a rescue service like WRAS should be called in to attend so the deer can be safely controlled and all the netting removed.
They added many deer die after secondary entanglements due to their location, especially in woodlands where they are often not easily found until it is too late.
