GORE BAY – If not for the quick actions of a woman in helping a buck caught in the soccer nets at Smith Park in Gore Bay, the animal wouldn’t have made it, says a local resident who also helped get the deer out of its predicament last week.
“Hey everybody, just wanted to give a shout out to Cheyenne Runnalls,” stated Greg Bond of Gore Bay in an October 5 Facebook post. “This morning she bravely saved a buck (deer) tangled in the soccer net. It would have been a goner if not for her.”
Mr. Bond told The Expositor, “At about 8:30 Tuesday morning I was going down Water Street when I saw Cheyenne trying to help a buck caught in the soccer net. It was an eight-point buck deer, not a big deer, but it had its antlers stuck in the net of the soccer net and couldn’t get loose.”
“She did a lot of work to try and remove the deer and get its antlers unattached from the nets,” said Mr. Bond. He, along with a driver for Home Hardware, Bob Kestner, helped Ms. Runnalls in trying to save the deer.
“It was pretty dangerous, Cheyenne’s head very close to the deer’s antlers when she was trying to help untangle its antlers from the netting,” stated Mr. Bond. “The deer’s mouth was bloody from trying to get out of the nets and its eye was bloody because of all the thrashing around it did.”
Ms. Runnalls told The Expositor, “I had been driving to work in the morning when I saw this buck that was tangled in the soccer net.” The deer was bleeding from the mouth and nose. “I didn’t have any tools to get the deer’s antlers from the net, and it was struggling to get away. A truck driver for Home Hardware and someone else I don’t know helped out. One of them had pliers and was able to get the antlers out of the net.”
“Eventually the deer was free of the net, even though it still had some of the net stuck on its antlers it ran away,” said Ms. Runnalls.
Mr. Bond pointed out once the deer had been released from the clutches of the soccer net “it ran to the creek.” He called Home Hardware to commend Mr. Kestner for assisting as well. He also called the Town of Gore Bay to relay news of the incident and to see if the soccer net could be taken down. “We had helped Cheyenne to rescue the deer and we all put our bodies at risk, but much to my chagrin the nets are still up.”
