A deer with garden fencing and netting tangled on its antlers has prompted a call for help near the Victoria-Esquimalt border just weeks after Esquimalt approved new rules intended in part to prevent similar incidents.<\/p>\n
Esquimalt resident Valerie Elliott spotted the buck Saturday morning near Colville Street with a small section of white metal garden fencing stuck on its face, along with mesh netting caught around one of its antlers.<\/p>\n
Elliott told CHEK News the buck is a regular visitor to the neighbourhood and had appeared without the material as recently as Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know when he picked this up because I haven\u2019t seen all of this gear on him before and I saw him yesterday, so this is something fairly new that he\u2019s picked up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said the white fencing appears to be locked on the buck\u2019s face because it is also caught around one of its antlers.<\/p>\n
Elliott added the material didn\u2019t appear to prevent the deer from moving, but she was concerned it could put the animal at risk.<\/p>\n
She contacted the BC Conservation Officer Service Saturday morning and was told someone would follow up. In a social media post, Elliott also asked people in the area to help keep track of the buck\u2019s location but warned against approaching it or attempting to remove the material themselves.<\/p>\n
The incident comes shortly after Esquimalt council moved to regulate the types of materials that can be used for deer fencing.<\/p>\n