A young deer is back in the wild after a nearly two-month effort by a Vancouver Island wildlife rescue to free its leg from a car mirror.
MARS Wildlife Rescue says it had been receiving calls for almost two months about a fawn spotted along Cumberland Road in Courtenay with a car side mirror stuck around one of its legs.
Rescuers made more than 10 attempts to capture the animal, but the fawn kept evading them. That changed recently when a homeowner in the area was able to contain the deer inside an enclosed yard and contacted MARS.
The organization says an alert went out to its rescue team, which had a group at the property within about 20 minutes.
Rescuers removed the mirror at the scene to assess the injury before bringing the fawn into care for treatment.
Despite having the object around its leg for weeks, MARS says the wounds underneath were relatively minor.
The injury was thoroughly cleaned and the wound successfully closed, allowing the stressed animal to be released back into the wild as soon as possible.
The fawn was released back into the wild shortly after its rescue. (MARS)
“He was incredibly lucky that the wounds underneath were relatively minor considering how long it had been on there,” MARS said. “With the proper medical attention and quick actions of all involved, we were able save the foot and reunite him with his family in the wild.”
MARS thanked the homeowner, its rescue team and community members who helped track and report the fawn over the course of the rescue effort.
“Our Valley community truly is incredible,” the organization said.
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Jeff Lawrence is a Digital News Editor for CHEKNews.ca.
After graduating from Langara College’s journalism program in 2009, Jeff worked as a digital producer at CTV Vancouver and CTV Vancouver Island…
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