An officer from the Department of Environmental Protection and members of the Storm Engine Co. Ambulance Corps saved a wily fawn from a canal Monday afternoon.
Construction workers on the job in the canal in front of Derby Cellular Products on Route 34, noticed the bespeckled fawn running inside the canal, where the water level has is low due to construction.
The animal had apparently been in there for about 24 hours.
The canal is surrounded on each side by sheer, 10-foot rock walls, so she was unable to get out once she was in.
Derby police responded to the scene and asked the Storm Engine Ambulance Corps for assistance at about 3:40 p.m.
A rescue truck arrived, along with two officers from the DEP.
An inflatable raft was lowered into the canal.
Storm Ambulance Assistant Chief David Lenart and a DEP officer donned waders and slowly stalked the fast-moving animal, which darted from side to side, managing to elude capture for about 30 minutes.
Lenart was eventually able to catch the fawn in a snare.
“At that point I was thinking, ‘Remember “When Animals Attack?” Lenart said.
The DEP officer grabbed the animal in a snug grip, then got in the raft, which Lenart pushed all the way back to the construction area.
The DEP officers then released the fawn at Osbornedale State Park.
