8-Point, 200lb Buck With Antler Caught In Wire Freed In Suffolk By Wildlife Rescuers

SOUTH SETAUKET, NY — Bambi would have been proud.

A strapping buck — an eight-pointer estimated between 200lbs and 220lbs — that was caught by an antler in a mesh wire attached to a fence on Quaker Path in South Setauket was freed at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday by wildlife rescuers from Strong Island Animal Rescue and Sweetbriar Nature Center.

"We had to be extremely careful as this boy was powerful and could hurt himself and us, as well, if not done properly," Strong Island Animal Rescue founder Frankie Floridia wrote in a Facebook post.

John Zarduscky from the nature center was able to lasso the buck and then hold him against the fence as Floridia cut the mesh off of the buck's antler, the post read. Once the buck was freed, the massive animal stopped to look back "as if thanking us and then took off."

Floridia credited the "save" to teamwork.

"We love it when a plan comes together and results in a Happy ending," he wrote.