Officers from West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s Technical Rescue Unit (TRU) have helped free a stag that had become entangled in a cricket net.
The unit was mobilised to a property off Greenhurst Lane in Storrington on Sunday morning at around 10am after the home owner had spotted the trapped stag.
Michael Lewin, TRU Watch Manger, said: “When we arrived at the property the stag’s antlers were well and truly tangled up in the net, but fortunately it looks as though the homeowner had spotted him fairly swiftly, as it didn’t look as though it had been thrashing about too much, or torn the net down as it tried to wriggle free.
“Quite often in these incidents they panic when they realise they are trapped and will throw themselves about to try and get themselves free, and this makes the situation worse.
“Luckily the homeowners were in at the time, and thanks to their quick thinking the RSPCA and ourselves were able to get to the property fairly swiftly and help.
“As well as untangling the stag’s antlers, our main priority is to always try and keep the animal calm, which can be easier said than done. But deer can very easily go into shock and when that happens they often don’t pull through. So once we had the animal under control, and those dangerous antlers safely in our grip, we covered its eyes to try and calm it down.
“We were then able to successfully untangle the net and release the stag, once the RSPCA had given him a quick once over, and he trotted off quite happily into the undergrowth.”
