8-Point Buck Freed From Swing Set On Long Island In Dramatic Rescue
LONG ISLAND, NY — Animal rescuers were kept busy over the holiday this week, starting with Christmas and continuing into Hanukkah.
The most dramatic rescue of the week involved a buck that had its antlers entangled in a swing in the backyard of a Rocky Point home on Friday afternoon, and the animal was not at all happy about it and was desperately trying to escape by kicking and jumping around to free itself.
But Strong Island Animal Rescue founder Frankie Floridia was able to quickly saw through the rope and a piece of the swing, so that his helpers could maneuver the animal and get the swing off of the antler.
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Once free, the buck ran away with no injury.
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“Strong Island recommends taking down any kind of sporting equipment or swings, if you’re not using them for the winter,” Floridia said.
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The day before Christmas Eve, on Tuesday, the league got a call about two swans stuck in the ice at Gibbs Pond in Nesconset, so the volunteers immediately geared up and headed out to get the rescue underway.
By the time they arrived, one of the swans in the middle of the pond had freed itself, Floridia said.
“They go to sleep, and they’re sleeping on the water, and then the water freezes, and then they actually get frozen into the water,” he added.
It’s something that happens “every once and a while.”
But another one of the swans was not moving for some time, and the rescuers were determined not going to give up, as the bird might still be suffering from hypothermia.
The ice began to crack when stepped on the ice, so he knew it was not safe, so a plan was put into motion, and using ropes and a floating raft and they were ready “to take an ice plunge” if necessary, Floridia said.
But, it was a false alarm.
The object was not a swan, but a garbage bag, and the rescuers, for once, were relieved up front.
The group now plans to look into wetsuits for similar rescues, according to Floridia.
In the midst of the rescues this week, the league is still inundated with calls about possibly sick raccoons. But the problem is two-fold.
There is an outbreak of distemper in the region, and due to state Department of Environmental Conservation regulations, rescuers cannot interfere with possibly sick raccoons. The agency needs to be called and then the animal is euthanized because there is no cure for the disease.
Floridia said that not all the animals might have the disease, as some might be mothers searching for food or others just scared out of their den by landscapers doing work.
The rescue has received around 80 calls about possibly sick raccoons in recent months.
Before calling the DEC, residents who see them in the daytime should look for signs like drunken behavior, walking in circles, and crusty eyes.
“Because if you call the police on that and they euthanize [it], it didn’t have to die if there was nothing wrong,” he said. “So you need to be sure before blowing the whistle on that.”
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