Deer carried car tyre around its neck for two years
In Colorado, wildlife officers free a deer from a car tyre it had been wearing around its neck for two years — on their fourth attempt.
Wildlife officers in Colorado successfully free a deer from its obstacle this week on their fourth attempt.
270 kg deer sedated and freed
Wildlife officers in Colorado say that an elusive deer that had been roaming the mountains with a car tyre around its neck for at least two years has finally been freed.
The four-and-a-half-year-old, 270 kg deer was spotted and sedated on Saturday evening near Pine Junction, south-west of Denver, as Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported. It was the fourth attempt by wildlife officers in the past week to capture the deer and help it.
Officers from the agency had to cut off the deer's five-point antlers to remove the object, as they were unable to cut through the steel in the tyre bead.
«We would have preferred to cut the tyre off and leave the antlers for the rut, but the situation was so dynamic that we had to remove the tyre one way or another», said Scott Murdoch.
Neck in good condition
Swanson and Murdoch were surprised to find that the bull's neck was in good condition after two years. «The hair was a little abraded, there was a small open wound about the size of a five-cent piece, but otherwise he really looked good», said Murdoch. «I was actually quite amazed at how good he looked.»
Wildlife officers first spotted the deer in July 2019 while conducting a population survey for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Mount Evans Wilderness. Since then, he has spent the past years wandering back and forth between Park and Jefferson counties.
They say they have seen deer, elk, bears and other wildlife become entangled in a range of objects, including rocking chairs, hammocks, clotheslines, decorative or festive lighting, furniture, tomato cages, chicken feeders, laundry baskets, football goals and volleyball nets.
