Oh deer! B.C. buck caught in backyard hammock

Conservation officials are reminding rural homeowners to take down hammocks and volleyball nets on their properties after a large mule deer had to be removed with the help of a tranquilizer.

The four-point mule buck got himself tangled in a backyard hammock on Monday near Kimberley in the East Kootenay.

"He was pretty agitated. He had been working pretty hard to free himself," said conservation officer Jeff Scott.

"Usually the more they fight, the more they get tangled in it. He had multiple layers wrapped around his antlers."

Remove hammocks, wires, volleyball nets

Two officers attended and sedated the buck with a tranquilizer in order to cut the hammock from the animal's antlers.

They later used a reversal agent and released the deer on site.

"Everything went well... shortly after, he was on his feet and on his way."

Scott said he gets two to three calls a year of animals being tangled in "some kind of wire, mesh, netting or hammocks."

He said it is a good reminder for homeowners to clear their properties of hazards.

"Remove hammocks and wires in the fall when the deer, elk and moose are in the rut."

With files from the CBC's Bob Keating.