Authorities teamed up to rescue a Key deer in the Lower Keys
This police operation in the Florida Keys was all about helping one of those beloved creatures that call part of the island chain home.
A couple of weeks ago, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer responded to a call at a school on Sugarloaf Key about an interloper that you can only find in the Keys: a Key deer.
One of those dog-sized endangered deer commonly found on Big Pine Key in the Lower Keys had been spotted inside a fence on the grounds of Sugarloaf School.
FWC Officer Daniel Jones arrived at the school, where a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy and a Florida Highway Patrol trooper were already on the scene.
The police officers worked as a team to corner the deer in an outdoor hallway, said FWC spokesman Officer Bobby Dube.
Jones caught the deer as it tried to jump past him “as if to evade capture,” Dube reported.
In photos, Jones is seen holding the deer in his arms. Jones carried him to the nearest exit — having made a lasso with some rope to put around the deer’s neck, Dube said.
“Just in case,” Dube noted of the rope. “Sometimes those things kick and wiggle their way loose.”
If the deer had bolted it could have run into traffic, Dube added.
The uninjured deer was released into the nearby woods.
It’s estimated there are fewer than 1,000 Key deer left, according to the National Wildlife Federation. They are the smallest subspecies of white-tailed deer. The largest bucks grow to under a yard high at the shoulders and can weigh about 80 pounds, according to FWC, while does are 25 to 28 inches at the shoulders and weigh about 65 pounds.
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Authorities teamed up to rescue a Key deer in the Lower Keys."
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