Please Take Hammocks and Nets Down in the Winter

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to James Carnahan. A call came in today about two deer. One deer was already dead; the other was still alive but could not get free. They had been fighting, and both of them got caught and tangled in a hammock.

They had fought and struggled until the area the hammock was in was nothing more than a mud pit. I do not know if the one buck died from exhaustion or if his neck was broken. I never could have gotten this buck lose without help. It was not easy, but with a lot of persistence, James was able to snag the rear leg with my capture pole and then stretch the deer out to the point that he fell to the ground. Now, the people that called me have a son, and while I was cutting the hammock, he was untangling the ropes. After getting everything cut free from the antlers, I dragged the dead one away from the other buck. The buck was exhausted and laid there a long time breathing very heavily. I used a Cat Grasper to hold a bottle of water and stretched toward him to give him a drink. As soon as the water touched him, he jumped up and took off.

PLEASE if you have a hammock or volleyball net still out, take them down. Every year I go on rescues that involve a hawk or owl that is caught in a net –and they are bad enough to deal with! Dealing with a deer like in this situation today is extremely dangerous.

Thank you again for your help. – Fran Kitchen

Copyright 2018 Fran Kitchen

Operation Orphan Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization and does not receive federal funding. We are supported entirely through private donations, memberships, and proceeds from our education programs.