Long Island Rescuers Free Deer Trapped For 18 Hours

PORT JEFFERSON STATION, NY — A Long Island doe on Wednesday found herself in between a rock and a hard place, kind of.

The animal had become lodged on her back between a concrete wall and a PVC fence behind a Port Jefferson Station home for 18 hours, but was brought to safety by a group of animal rescuers and Suffolk police officers.

At about 12:20 p.m., officers from the 6th Precinct responded to a call from a Huron Street homeowner who had been hearing cries from the night before and had no idea what the sounds were.

When animal rescuer Frankie Floridia arrived, he was told the animal had been in the spot since about 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. the night before.

“When I got there, I noticed that there were two fences and a three-foot berm, very close together,” he said, adding, that the deer must have tried to jump the fence and fell in between. The doe was able to flex, but landed upside down and was not able to get back up, so she was “stuck in between the two fences on her back.”

And there was even more of a dilemma.

The homeowner, who just installed the PVC fence, wanted to know if the group could remove the deer from the other side of the fence as not to damage the new one. But Floridia says that would have entailed lifting the deer three feet up, “which would have been near impossible without injuring her further.”

There was no way to lift the animal out so he made a deal with the homeowner that if he was allowed to saw part of the fence away, the animal rescue group would pay for any damages.

The deal was sealed on an honest handshake, and Floridia called Erica Kutzing to help in the rescue.

Floridia cut a small portion of the fence, which allowed everyone — officers included — to start pulling apart the slats to finally free her.

Once free, the doe was "extremely wobbly on her legs" after hours being stuck upside down, and Floridia and Kutzing carried her to the front yard where they gave her 20 minutes to allow her to get the circulation back in her legs, he said.

The homeowners and officers then moved their vehicles to allow the doe space to take off, and within minutes she was off down the block where there is a quiet sump.

“She was absolutely fine,” Floridia said.

Floridia said that his group is "fortunate to work with some of the most caring long islanders and police officers in the world."

"We are honored to help where we can and keep animals and people safe,” he said.