Deer rescued from fencing and barbed wire in Horsham

The RSPCA was called out to the incident on Hornbrook Copse at around 8am on January 3.

"The large deer appeared to be unable to move after getting tangled up in the two types of fencing,” a spokesperson for the animal welfare charity said.

"RSPCA animal rescue officers Louis Horton and Chloe Wilson attended the scene and assessed the situation, before deciding to restrain the deer and cut him free.

"However on closer inspection, the deer became stressed and managed to untangle himself, leaving the officers concerned he could be a danger to nearby road users and himself.”

Louis explained that it is ‘not uncommon’ for deer to pick up discarded rope or fencing in their antlers and get entangled, ‘before carrying it around for a while until eventually it gets caught’ in something else – or even another deer.

“At first we could see the deer was heavily wrapped up in canvas-type fencing, which I suspect was from a different location,” Louis added.

"On this occasion the deer had then become caught up in barbed wire fencing. When we arrived he appeared to be unable to move, but as we approached it was clear he was getting stressed out and could move more freely.

“We had to act quickly due to the location near a busy road and the risk to both the deer and road users. We covered the deer’s face to keep him calm and I managed to free his antlers using different cutting tools on the fencing.”

Louis said he had to ‘redirect the deer’ using his antlers and ‘steer him in the opposite direction’ so he could run into the large fields behind and away from the road.

He added: “Thankfully no one was injured and the deer was later seen running free in the field.

“Sadly, when wild animals get themselves stuck they sometimes panic which can make the situation worse. It’s really important that if you see a wild animal in this situation to get in touch with us so we can try and help as quickly as possible.”

For more information about what to do if you find a deer in trouble, visit https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/deer