Operation Bambi: Mission accomplished

Community comes together to rescue deer trapped in retaining pond

By DONALD WILBURN

donaldfwilburn@gmail.com

The West Memphis Animal Shelter sprang into action on Wednesday morning to rescue a buck that was trapped in a retention pond. The buck had been stuck for at least three hours and was unable to _nd a way out on his own.

Kerry Facello, from West Memphis Animal Services, received the call just before 9 a.m. about the trapped deer. She and her team quickly arrived at the scene to help with the rescue operation.

Dubbed ‘Operation Bambi,’ the team worked to assist the distressed animal. The retention pond, which holds 10,000 gallons of water, was not easily accessible due to the chemicals and equipment inside. “This stuff is so slick, y’all, it’s slicker than ice.” said Facello on a video recording the event referring to the sloped concrete walls of the

See BAMBI, page A2

The young deer made several attempts to climb the slick walls of the retention pond, but kept slipping back in until tarps were laid down.

Photo by WMAS BAMBI

From page A1

retention pond.

In an effort to provide traction for the buck, the team laid down tarps and other textured materials. They also set up a drop cloth donated by a local painter to help the deer climb out of the pond. The rescue team also tried making loud noises, honking, and using sirens to safely scare the deer out of the pond, to no avail.

However, the animal was too stressed and scared to attempt an escape while the team was present. Understanding the nature of wildlife, the team decided to leave the area and allow the deer to calm down on its own.

Fortunately, after a few hours of being left alone, the deer safely exited the pond and moved away from the area. While the rescue itself was not captured on camera, Arkansas _sh and wildlife of_cials con_rmed the successful outcome of the operation.