Rescuers pull deer out of well

TRURO, Mass., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Emergency responders struggled for hours to free a 120-pound deer that had fallen into a 12-feet-deep abandoned well in Truro, Mass.

The deer was discovered Sunday by a dog-walker whose dog repeatedly returned to the well site, the Cape Cod (Mass.) Times reported.

Truro fire and police departments arrived at the well around noon.

"I've never seen anything like that before," said Officer Jeremiah Valli, the first to arrive at the scene. "It was a sight to behold."

The deer walked across the covered well opening and fell to the bottom, Valli said.

"If you've ever seen a dog chasing its tail, it was a bit like that. It kept circling around, but it was too steep for it to jump out," he said.

Because of Massachusetts environmental regulations, responders were not able to tranquilize the animal and were forced to get creative.

"We tried several times to snare the deer with the rope, but we weren't able to do that," Valli said.

Then, Truro fire Capt. Shannon Corea decided to climb down a ladder into the well with a makeshift harness.

"I was able to put my arm around her, hug her close and pet her," Corea said. "It seemed to calm her down enough to put the strap around her."

The crew was then able to pull the deer out safely.

"I wasn't going to accept the alternative until we tried everything we could do to get her out of there," Corea said. "She seemed to know that we were trying to help her."

The deer appeared to have minor injuries and looked exhausted from the ordeal, police said.