A volunteer firefighter out of Peachland, B.C. was at the right place at the right time over the weekend, after spotting a deer that had become trapped underneath a stretch of rock fencing along Westside Road.
Doryan Mash, his wife Amy and her brother Trevor decided to take the scenic route to Vernon on Sunday via Westside Road.
“My wife wanted to see the fire area there, so we decided to take that route and maybe look at some wildlife and take a look at all the damage that was done from the fire,” said Doryan Mash.
Just minutes into their drive, the trio found wildlife – a deer in desperate need of help.
“I was looking at the fence and happened to notice that there was a deer caught under there,” said Mash. “I think it had been under there for quite a while, she had thrashed around quite a bit and her eyes were blood shot.”
Without hesitation, Mash and his brother-in-law safely parked their vehicle on the side of the road and made their way up the embankment where the deer was stuck.
“I just pulled over and said, ‘Oh man, I think we can do something here, so why don’t you get out the car with me and run up the bank and get two hands on it,’ and we kind of devised a little bit of a game plan,” said Mash.
After several minutes of carefully trying to assist the animal by lifting the fence, the female deer wiggled its way down the embankment, and got out under its own power.
“She got up, and just jumped over the cement meridian there, and then she jumped across the road and down towards the lake and I watched her runaway,” said Mash. “She looked fine and didn’t look like she was too injured or anything like that, so it was just good to see.”
Mash added that had they not stopped to help the deer, they’re not sure it would have made it out safely.
“I’m in the outdoors quite a bit, and I actually think that it would have been trapped there for quite some time just the way it was tangled up in the fence and how heavy it was on top of her, I really don’t think it would have been able to get out if we didn’t lift the fence,” said Mash.
Mash wants to remind the public that with so many animals displaced by recent wildfire events throughout the Okanagan, its important to keep your eyes out for any animals that may be in danger.