A SECTION of East Sussex National Golf Course in Uckfield was closed today (December 15) while animal rescuers saved a deer which was entangled in a tree.
A golfer discovered a young fallow buck caught up in rope. Ground staff reacted quickly, keeping people away and they then called East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS).
A team of five rescuers in two veterinary ambulances attended the site and were driven by ground staff to the location.
Trevor Weeks MBE and founder of WRAS said: “All credit to the ground team for keep people away, allowing the deer to stay as calm as possible till we arrived. This makes a huge difference in our ability to release them in these situations.”
The rescuers used a walk towards net to approach and restrict the movement of the deer before grabbing its leg to secure it.
A rescuer then safely pinned the deer’s shoulders to the ground so the team could cut the rope free from its antlers.
Mr Weeks added: “There were several iron poles which were attached to the rope which were close to the deer’s head and face.
“We had to be very careful that these did not cause the deer any injury. It’s really important that we cut away everything so the deer doesn’t run off with anything attached which could cause the deer to become entangled again or even during the rutting season become attached to another deer as we experienced at High Hurst Wood only a couple of months ago.”
The speed and co-ordination of rescuers in these situation is critical. They must adapt to the ever-changing situation, work well as a team and able to think on their feet.
Deer need to be cut free within 30 minutes of rescuers’ initial approach to avoid the risk of the deer suffering a heart attack or the long-term effects of capture myopathy.
It took about six minutes to rescue the deer, and when it was free it ran back into the wild.
Mr Weeks added: “We are often asked why we don’t sedate such casualties but this would only be used as a last resort or for safety reasons.
“Sadly this doesn’t help much and will cause additional delays prolonging the rescue, require ear tagging on release and add to the stress on the deer, as well as encouraging capture myopathy.”
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