A local lassoed mule deer has been untangled.
Yesterday afternoon, Wyoming Game and Fish game wardens and wildlife biologist ended a prolonged search to find and liberate one of Cody’s resident buck deer, who had a 12-foot lasso thoroughly tangled in its antlers. Game and Fish wildlife biologist Tony Mong said this buck was difficult to track down. He spent two days searching for it, last spotting it near the Park County Sheriff’s Office at 9:30 p.m. Monday night.
The buck stopped at Canal Park, where Game and Fish caught up with him. Once a tranquilizer dart was strategically shot into its shoulder, closer to the backbone so the drug would spread more quickly through its system, the deer was subdued by Mong and Game and Fish game wardens Grant Gerharter and Jordan Winter. They needed to be quick and safe, as a sudden rush of adrenaline from the deer could counteract the tranquilizer. In less than an hour, the buck was tranqued, untangled, and back on its feet – a bit drowsy but overall, just fine.
While deer becoming entangled isn’t too unusual a call for Game and Fish, this incident was no accident. The deer had been deliberately roped by, as the game wardens put it, “a young cowboy who couldn’t wait for Cody Nite.” He has since been educated on the dangers of this unsanctioned practice.
