Oh Deer! Firefighters Rescue Buck from Pine Township Well

Wexford Volunteer Fire Company members have rescued a few kittens from trees over the years, but never have they ever liberated a stranded deer from a well.

“It’s not anything we’ve ever done before,” Fire Chief Tim Flaherty said.

On Thursday, firefighters, along with Northern Regional police officers, were called to a home on Mars Road in Pine after a buck fell through a cistern-type pit on a residential property.

Flaherty said the deer was standing on top of a piece of plywood covering the pit while feeding near a tree when it fell through the plywood and landed in the well around 4 p.m.

Upon discovering the stranded deer, the homeowner of the property called police, who in turn called the fire department for aid.

Flaherty said the well is about 7 to 8 feet deep and about 8 feet wide. While the deer had a few minor injuries from the fall, including a broken antler and a gash on the leg, it appeared to be OK to the volunteers arriving on the scene.

“He was just hanging out down there,” Flaherty said. “Every once in a while, he would try to jump out, but he couldn’t.”   

Fearful the deer would kick them if they tried to get it out manually, the volunteers chained the well’s concrete pad to a truck and pulled, breaking it free from the foundation.

“That created a much bigger opening,” Flaherty said.

Unfortunately, the deer was still unable to jump out of the well on its own, the chief said.

An officer from the Pennsylvania State Game Commission then used a tranquilizer on the deer. Once the deer was unconscious, firefighters strapped ropes to it and hauled it from the pit.

After the game commission officer tended to the deer’s injuries with a first aid kit, volunteers deposited the deer in a yard near the woods to sleep off the effects of the tranquilizer.

There is a happy ending to the story. About 30 minutes later, the deer woke up and took off into the trees, Flaherty said.

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