Oxford fire service personnel rescued a male muntjac deer from a walled brook in Christ Church Meadows at around 1.15 p.m. on Boxing Day afternoon. The deer had become trapped under the footbridge near the main entrance on St Aldates after having jumped onto a low ledge and then into the brook, perhaps after being chased by a dog.
Fire service personnel arrived on the scene around 12.30 p.m., after the trapped deer was reported. The team created a makeshift ramp of a tarp and ladder, and lowered it into the brook from a low ledge. The deer, who was shivering noticeably, was unwilling to move toward the ramp, even after fire service personnel created noise by dropping chunks of snow into the brook behind it, to encourage it to move forward.
A rescue team arrived around 1.00 p.m. A three-man team entered the water near the deer, while another team created a barrier behind the deer using a tarp, so that it would not flee backwards into deeper water. Once the men took up positions to avoid the deer swimming further down the brook, they flushed the deer, who approached the ramp multiple times, but never made an attempt to climb up it. The rescuers moved in to surround the deer, and eventually one caught and held it, while another rescuer covered its head with an orange hood to blindfold it. A third rescuer helped carry the deer up the ramp and onto the low ledge. The deer was then lifted from the ledge to ground level, and released. After his release, the deer ran immediately away to hide in the brush. Rescuers followed it until it had run far enough away from the brook to ensure its safety from a repeat fall.
The deer appeared to be uninjured and none the worse for wear from its experience.
Based on information supplied by Cole Matson.
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