[Agatha]

I was walking my rescue collie cross Bonnie this morning when she started to act very strangely in the corner of one field, going from me to the fence and back again, looking really distressed.  When I went up to investigate, I found a trapped deer - it had got its antlers wedged in a metal grid that was being used to fill a gap in a fence, and while struggling backward to free itself had ended up suspended by its neck over the river, half in, half out of the water & unable to touch the ground.  An hour later, the farmer and someone from the local wildlife rescue managed to free him - amazingly unharmed apart from a few scratches.  The wildlife people said that if he hadn't been found, he would have slowly suffocated to death over several hours.  I am SO proud of my beautiful Bonnie; she used to be so timid & anxious and afraid of doing the wrong thing, but if she hadn't kept trying to tell me something was wrong, that deer would have died an agonizing death. So excuse a proud owner's bragging, but I had to tell someone how clever she was!  (I just hope the deer now feels enough gratitude to leave my veg patch alone  )   

[GrannieAnnie]

Awww Agatha that is lovely.  Congratulations Bonnie!

But I doubt the deer will feel grateful enough to leave your veg patch alone!  Much too tempting! lol

[Agatha]

Crazy thing is that I keep saying I hate deer for eating all my cabbages but when one is in trouble, I do all I can to enable it to keep destroying my veg 

[maxyboo]

We can all moan about wildlife but when it comes to watching an animal suffer it's a different story. Well done to Bonnie (and you for getting help)

[joyfull]

Well done Super Bonnie, I think we need to see a photo of your heroine

[Agatha]

I only have internet access at the library, which doesn't allow me to upload photos, so you'll have to use your imagination!  She is tan & white, collie x something sighthoundy, so looks like a skinny collie. (Though after all the 'rewards' I've been giving her today, she won't be skinny much longer )

[compostqueen]

Well done Bonnie! What a good dog    I hope she got a special treat 

[alimilly]

A lovely story with a happy ending - Well done Bonnie 

[sarajane]

Oooooh  -  I love stories like this.  They put a smile on all our faces I'm sure. Well Done Bonnie you clever girl

[tosca100]

Well done Bonnie, what a star!

[Thrift]

What a wonderful girl 

Dogs really are so clever - the poor stag was very fortunate. Well done Bonnie and well done you. Apart from anything else it's lovely to hear of a rescue dog having a super home and going for nice walks in the country. 

[ANHBUC]

Bonnie sounds like an ideal candidate for a new Lassie movie.   

Well done to the both of you for a miraculous rescue, great team work. 

[Agatha]

Bonnie sounds like an ideal candidate for a new Lassie movie.   

All the best animal films have a sequel - and we had one yesterday!  Took Bonnie out & we walked past the 'girls', a group of 3 female deer that have been living on the farm for some months.  Only...they are now a group of 4, and number four is a rather handsome chap with a familiar pair of antlers, last seen stuck through a metal grid  . 

Didn't get a very close look as he was understandably nervous (the girls - who are so used to us that they will keep grazing as long as we don't go closer than 20 feet - obviously couldn't work out what he was panicking about!) but he seems fine...though I'm not too happy at the prospect of a daddy deer on the farm, helping to produce the next generation of veg patch attackers  )

[Thrift]

How lovely ...... I hope Bonnie was suitably proud of herself.

Oh dear though; they will soon multiply if those girls give birth. Beautiful as they are they will soon strip the grass ..... and your veg plot 

[tosca100]

This is always a difficult one to balance. When my sister moved to the Lakes she was so happy that she had wildlife using her large garden and didn't have to do anything but look out of the window......

Several years on, and my sister, a keen veggie grower, is frequently exasperated by the attentions of deer, badger, fox, squirrel, heron, rabbit and woodpecker! Not that she doesn't enjoy seeing them, to an extent, it's just that as soon as things get going in the garden along come her wild neighbours and trash the place. (Well, the squirrel and woodpecker don't, they trash the bird table)

New heavy gates, high fences and chicken wire around the veggies seem pointless.

Now, where would I rather live.....large rural bungalow on half acre lawn/pond/woodland.near Windermere or nasty 70s semi just off a huge industrial park? (Actually, semi semi rural in that we have fields close by) The only deer we are likely to see are escapees from the local "Farm Park"