Forsyth firefighters rescue deer from pond

Forsyth County fire crews rescued a deer that got stranded in a storage pond on Wednesday.

The animal was first spotted by workers at the waste water treatment plant at Fowler Park. It was believed to have tumbled down the steep slope into the water.  The young doe had been there a couple of days, officials believe.

"But he couldn't get out, and this pond is a man-made facility that's used to store water from the reclamation facility, and the sides of it are extremely steep," said Forsyth County Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers.

Eight firefighters and two animal control officers went to work to try to pull the 50-pound soaking wet deer out of the pond.

Rope lassos didn't do the trick. Crews feared the doe would drown from exhaustion.

"Every time we would get near her, she would scamper back into the water and swim to the other side of the pond," Shivers said.

After two hours of effort, firefighters used a catch-and=release pole to pull the animal from the water's edge and up the incline.

"It was quite fulfilling to see it come to fruition and that she was OK in the end," said Shivers.

Crews said that they this was the first deer rescue for Forsyth County.