Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers on Friday rescued a young buck from Evergreen Lake, where the animal was trapped by ice and snow.
A nearby crane operator who happened to be in the right place at the right time stopped to help the wildlife officers, according to a social media post from Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Sunday.
Wildlife officers darted the deer with a sedative and strapped it into a “snuggie-like contraption” for the crane to lift over the wall and fence railing, the post stated.
A nearby crane truck operator in the right place at the right time gave our wildlife officers a hand with the #rescue. We darted the deer and placed it into a Snuggie-like contraption to lift it over the fence railing. pic.twitter.com/6mlgWakmwa
— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE) November 26, 2023
Wildlife officers relocated the deer to a better habitat — a nearby forested area — and released it back into the wild.
In a video posted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, one officer held the deer gently by the antlers and removed the blindfold before jumping backward as the deer darted forward and into the trees.
“I got photos,” one officer said to another, laughing in the background of a second video clip. “And I’ve got a video of him.”
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