Long Island Rescue Group Sees Spike In Calls For Struck Deer As Rutting Season Begins

LONG ISLAND, NY — With the rutting season underway, there has been a spike in calls for deer stuck in precarious places over a week and a half on Long Island, rescuers say.

Rescuers from Strong Island Animal Rescue saved four deer over the last two weeks, including a buck that had made its way into a swimming pool and could have drowned. The deer was trapped in the winter cover of an above-ground pool in Holtsville, and needed to be untangled from the plastic, then pulled by its antlers from the pool.

At least two deer became wedged upside down, one between a shipping container in Port Jefferson Station, another in a fence in Mount Sinai. Another was trapped in the yard of an auto body shop in Mount Sinai Monday night.

All of the predicaments can be attributed to the rut, Frankie Floridia of Strong Island Animal Rescue says.

"This is mating season," he said. "They're going to be running around a little more, getting themselves into mischievous situations. Plus all the excavation and building isn't helping, because we're destroying their natural habitats."

"They're ending up on the busy roads and in the industrial parks and all the little, nooks and crannies that they would never really be in before, because they had their own patch of land, which is now being taken, which is now being taken up by homes," he said. "So they're ending up everywhere."

The rutting season runs from October to January, according to outdoornews.com.

It's something that residents can expect to see a lot more of in the future, according to Floridia.

"I have had this many in a week and a half," he said. "The calls just keep coming."

The group is not only getting calls for specific to deer.

Floridia helped out a puppy with medical issues that its owner had to give up.

In another case, a possum was brought into a family's home by their dog in Holtsville, and needed to be contained so that it could be brought to wildlife rehabilitators for treatment of a small puncture wound. Also, an injured goose probably struck by a golf ball was rescued from a golf course in Mount Sinai on Tuesday with the help of the Suffolk's Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Both animals were taken to Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown and are expected to make a full recovery.

SPCA Chief Roy Gross referred to the golf course rescue as the "golden goose."

The goose had been over at the third hole for some time and people had been feeding it, and the bird was letting people pet it for some time. Someone ended up alerting Gross that something wasn't right about the bird, so he and Floridia took two golf carts out to the third hole to see if they could trap it for evaluation at the nature center.

In light of the arrests that the SPCA has had this week involving allegations of dog neglect, it was a welcome surprise to bring the bird to safety, so that it could be helped.

"It's a good feeling when you do that," he said. "It's always nice working together with Frankie and the rescue."

The goose, he expects, will be "taken care of" and released once the center's vets determine what the issue is.

Gross said it is important that the public know that if they suspect animal abuse or neglect, they can contact the SPCA, or reach out to Strong Island Animal Rescue if wildlife is involved.

"We're always happy to work with any of the rescues," he said. "Whether it's wildlife or domestic animals or farm animals, we do work together with a lot of rescues and veterinarians."