2 Deer Rescued From Retention Pond In Cherokee County

WOODSTOCK, GA — Cherokee County firefighters came to the rescue of two deer that were trapped in a retention pond Sunday afternoon in the Hickory Flat community. Firefighters were dispatched to the call around 2:45 p.m. on Owens Farm Lane and arrived to find a deer and her yearling inside the pond.

Battalion Chief Shannon Gibbs said crews assessed the situation and asked for a technical rescue vehicle to aid in the operation. The pond measured roughly 50 yards long and wide, and was surrounded by walls that were about 16 feet at the lowest point and 30 feet at the highest. Firefighters were unsure how the animals got inside the enclosure, but it appeared they had been there for some time.

Gibbs said crews removed a portion of the fence and used a roof latter to gain access to part of the wall. They were able to climb down the wall until they reached a built-in ladder near the drain. Gibbs, along with two firefighters, used three animal capture poles provided by the Cherokee County Marshal's Office, and placed spotters around the edge of the pond to help locate the animals.

Once inside the pond, crews worked by moving around the perimeter to corral one of the deer to get close to a rescue member inside the area. Within 15 minutes, the larger deer was captured using one of the poles.

“We were able to calm the animal and placed her in a sheet and carried her to a corner of the wall for lifting," Gibbs said. "The doe was a bit thin and looked weak from her time in the pond."

The second deer was a little harder to catch, and crews had to maneuver it into a corner to make the operation successful. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to catch the yearling. The little one was transferred to Cherokee County Animal Control officers and will be released back into a wooded area within the county.

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Images via Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services