A second deer in under three weeks has been rescued from open water in Cornwall.
Earlier this month the Packet reported how Porthleven fisherman Jeremy Richards had picked up a roe deer being chased out at a sea by a seal.
Now a second rescue has been carried out, this time just around the coast in Penzance.
Read more: Roe roe your boat - Porthleven fisherman's unusual catch of the day
The volunteer crew of Penlee's inshore lifeboat launched at 9.30am yesterday to rescue a deer that was in distress near the harbour at Ross Bridge.
Coxswain Patch Harvey had received a call from a Penlee volunteer who could see the deer swimming around trying to find its way out.
A Penlee RNLI spokesperson said: "The deer appeared to be swimming competently at this time and the tide was dropping so they thought the wild animal may be able to get onto dry land soon.
"The deer was then startled by the noises of the harbour – moving boats, Scillonian maintenance workers and the general public passing by – and so it began to swim out through the gaps."
Penlee lifeboat coxswain Patch Harvey with the deer. Photo: Penlee RNLI
It was then decided to launch the inshore lifeboat to carry out a rescue.
Swimmers at Battery Rocks saw the deer swimming around and managed to grab hold of it, wrap it in a towel and carry it out towards the volunteer crew.
They have since been identified as Samantha Walsh and her friend John, who the lifeboat crew said "played a huge part in the successful rescue", with Samantha guiding it back to shore and John carrying it safely to the lifeboat.
The crew then calmly approached the deer and lifted it into the lifeboat, wrapping it in a blanket and lightly covering its head to reduce stress.
When they arrived back at the station, Patch phoned the RSPCA but with nobody able to help immediately so the crew was given permission to release the deer into an open field.
They drove the deer up to Paul, a village just beyond Newlyn, and released it safely into the wild.
Patch Harvey, coxswain mechanic, said: "Safety is our top priority and to limit the risk of anybody else being hurt in this circumstance we wanted to help the distressed animal and reduce the risk of a member of public attempting to rescue the deer themselves."
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