Scared deer trapped under fence rescued by Crofton firefighters

Crofton, B.C.'s volunteer firefighters are being praised for the way they showed compassion for a distressed deer and got it out of its trap. 

Brian Pankratz has seen plenty of deer roaming and grazing in his backyard. So he suspected there might be a deer when he heard some rustling on Sunday morning near the fence, but was surprised by what he saw. 

"At first I thought it was a deer carcass stuck between the fence and the rocks," he said.

"And then it moved."

He said the deer somehow fell into a five-foot deep wedge between his neighbour's fence and his own rock garden. 

Seeing no way to get it out, Pankratz's neighbour called the local volunteer fire department.

"We could see there was no way to get him straight out," said Geoff Backman, one of the firefighters who arrived. 

One of the firefighters stroked the deer's muzzle while tying its front hooves with a special knot. 

Backman said the knot would make the deer stretch out, and let the firefighters pull it out smoothly. 

Once it was out, the firefighters undid the knot and the deer scampered off.

Backman says he and the other two firefighters are overwhelmed with the praise on the Facebook post. 

"It's my first deer rescue. I've wrangled lots of cows, but this was my first deer. But honestly, all the attention is very humbling and very sweet."