Deer Looking For Help—Upon Seeing His Antlers Workers Dial Emergency Services
Mar 03, 2021 by apost team
Being called in to help a dog or other pet in distress is not unusual for a police officer, but something truly out of the ordinary happens every now and then. Back in 2016, police officers in Fulshear, Texas, were called in for something quite different. Officer Kevin Zieschang responded to a call about a young buck that was spotted in a backyard, tied to a tree. No one lived at the home because it was still under construction at the time. The construction workers were understandably baffled why a wild animal had ended up tied to the tree at their construction site. Nobody had been seen leaving the animal that had, from the workers' view, quite literally appeared overnight.
When officer Zieschang arrived at the scene, he quickly took stock of the situation. The animal had been left tied to the tree with a sturdy nylon rope that had been wound around its antlers. Thankfully, the animal seemed otherwise fine and healthy. This was already a good thing - often, when police are called out to handle abandoned pets or wild animals that have been subjected to mishandling, the animals involved are wounded or suffer from other health problems. This buck, however, seemed fine if slightly skittish and baffled about its fate.
The construction workers and the officer worked together to free the deer. At first, they expected it to run away after the rope was cut, but the buck stayed around. It even allowed officer Zieschang to remove the ends of the rope from its antlers.
It quickly became apparent that the deer wasn't an ordinary buck. Officer Zieschang and the workers expected the buck to run away the second he was completely freed, but he made no move to do so. At first, they believed the buck was simply grateful to the police officer and the workers and wanted to convey his gratitude for their kind rescue. Whether animals truly feel gratitude in such situations is still debated among scientists, but there is anecdotal proof that they might, as the Scientific American reports. In any case, there have been many incidents where wild animals that were rescued from precarious situations stuck around for a few minutes to nuzzle or otherwise thank their rescuers.
This buck, however, stuck around quite longer than just a few minutes. The workers and officer Zieschang gave the deer a friendly scratch on the ears and expected it to run off into the woods. Only it didn't. In the video linked below, you can hear them say, "He's just hanging around, man!"
They don't know how the buck came to be tied to the tree, but they soon started to suspect that he was already used to humans and being near humans. This deer was walking right up to people and nuzzling with them, and he even licked their hands as domesticated animals might do.
Officer Zieschang tried his best to get the wild animal back to the woods, as he explained to ABC 13: "I tried to spook him to get him to run back out into the woods, but he wasn't having it. He wanted to hang out with us."
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The next day, the local news crew came to see the deer and film a story about him, and the buck continued to be his usual, comfortable self with the crew. He even treated them to a show.
While Officer Zieschang was being interviewed by the television crew, the buck ambled over from the nearby trees. The commentator immediately chimed in: "So, Officer Zieschang is out here with the news media talking about the deer that was tied up yesterday, and during the news conference, the deer showed up again."
Officer Zieschang quickly showcased that the buck was very much not afraid of humans and gave him a few nuzzles while the camera was filming. He even explained that he had decided to call him "Uncle Buck" and that the animal kept coming back to the construction site and was loitering around the area.
The police didn't believe that the deer was a true pet, but they issued a warning against shooting him if he finds his way into anybody's yard. They thought that the deer might try to return to the home under construction, so they called Lone Star Animal Control and the Texas Game Warden to take charge of the animal. As ABC 13 reports, the buck was meanwhile corralled into the backyard of a nearby home and kept there, for his own safety. Having a wild deer wandering around the neighborhood and a construction site with ongoing work was far from safe, after all. The Fulshear police department started an investigation to find out who had left the deer tied up at the construction site, but nobody had seen anything, and whoever was responsible hadn't left a lot of clues.
Lone Star Animal Control and the Texas Game Warden responded quickly to the police department's call for help and arrived on site just a few days later. They sedated the buck so that he could be safely transported to a nearby sanctuary. This was seen as the best way to handle the deer that had clearly formed an attachment to humans and was refusing to reenter the wilds. The police department's official Facebook page read:
"We have had several inquires as to what happened to "Uncle Buck." Lone Star Animal Control as well as a Texas Game Warden met us this morning to relocate the extremely docile and friendly buck. The young deer was sedated by hand and after a brief struggle, he gently fell asleep. The deer was placed in a vehicle and transported to a large animal sanctuary (an individuals property; he will be loved and well taken care of) in Katy. "Uncle Buck" is now safe and sound and seems to love his new protected home."
If this story has moved you in any way, feel free to let your friends know about it. Did you ever encounter a wild animal that didn't behave the way you expected it to? Or do you have any stories about rescued animals that showed gratitude? If you like, tell us your thoughts on this story; we would love to hear from you!