‘Fawn memories’ made as deer rescued in Wakamow

The Moose Jaw Fire Department was involved with a bit of a unique rescue on Saturday morning at Wakamow Valley after a young deer was found stuck in a crack in the earth.

“When they first got there, they were all wondering, ‘How do we get this guy out of there?’ ” said Cathie Bassett, the public education officer with the fire department.

“It was so entrenched into it and of course our guys are used to trench rescue. They came up with an idea of how to get it out and began to carefully chisel away.”

The rescue took about two hours to conduct, all while the fawn’s worrisome mother was watching from a distance.

“They were able to widen the crack enough so that the fawn could be grabbed and brought out,” Bassett said. “You had to be careful because you didn’t want the earth to smother the little thing.

“It ended up being such a happy ending to the story with the mom being reunited with her baby. It was pretty small. It still had spots so it was still a pretty young fawn.”

Bassett says department officials have no way of knowing how long the fawn had been in the hole, but the story ended the best way it could have.

She said there are some large cracks in the earth around Wakamow, and while it’s not something most people worry about, it’s always a good idea to keep watch of your little ones while they are playing around them.

Blaise Wozniak, Discover Moose Jaw