In New Jersey, it’s not uncommon to see herds of white-tailed deer grazing and roaming around in residential areas. However, one local man spotted a deer unlike any other that he had ever seen before.
A homeowner in the Colts Neck area noticed a deer in his backyard that seemed to look like a normal deer – long, skinny legs, a furry, brown body. But this deer seemed to have something on its head that looked almost like a fishbowl or helmet.
The man decided to get a closer look, and as he slowly approached the strange looking deer, he realized that it was actually a young, scared buck who was in serious trouble. Not only was he alone, which was odd on its own, but his head had become trapped in a glass globe.
The poor deer had gotten his head stuck in a glass globe from a light fixture – because of this, he had been ostracized by his family.
“Certain species will treat members as outcasts if they look different or are injured so to not invite predators or disrupt the integrity of the herd,” the Monmouth County SPCA (MCSPCA) stated in a press release.
Sadly, the deer hadn’t been able to eat or drink for days and the homeowner knew that time was something that his young buck didn’t have. He rushed back home and contacted the MCSPCA and the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Thankfully, rescuers arrived to help assist the lone deer and remove the glass barrier from his head.
“After he was safe to approach, the glass bowl was removed which turned out to be a light fixture cover which probably had been filled with water the deer tried to drink. The buck was dehydrated from 4 days without food and water and had a couple of scrapes probably from the poor visibility but was able to get up and walk away after we cleaned him up and the sedative had worn off,” MCSPCA wrote in a Facebook post.
A heartwarming rescue story for this rainy Friday morning! Yesterday a homeowner in Colts Neck called us to alert us of…
Posted by Monmouth County SPCA onFriday, March 30, 2018
Even though the glass light fixture had been removed and the deer walked away, the young creature’s ordeal wasn’t quite over yet. Over the weekend, the MCSPCA received another phone call from the concerned homeowner, saying that the deer hadn’t left.
After being freed, the deer didn’t have any strength to wander off to find his herd. He ended up lying down on the ground, struggling to breathe. The rescuers immediately rushed to the scene.
Thankfully, veterinary technician, Deann Bowen, quickly administered fluids to the weak and tired deer. Wonderfully, that seemed to be the magic cure-all that the young buck so desperately needed.
“We could tell he was completely dehydrated by the way he looked,” Bowen said in the press release. “After we administered the fluids his head perked right up, and after a few minutes his breathing returned to normal.”
Fluids seemed to do the trick as the rescuers watched him take a few wobbly steps before hopping over a fence and prancing into the woods.
“The Monmouth County SPCA has been told that there is no longer a single deer feeding,” the press release concluded, “so it is happily assumed that he has rejoined his herd.”
We commend the MCSPCA, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the Good Samaritan for their hard work in saving this beautiful woodland creature.
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