"Does not move"

Pfarrwerfen fire department called out to rescue “fawn”

The firefighters rescue the prepared fawn from the banks of the Fritzbach stream.

(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Pfarrwerfen)

The Pfarrwerfen volunteer fire department was called out to rescue an animal on Saturday evening. It only turned out on the spot that the young deer was no longer alive ...

A walker had discovered a fawn on the banks of the Fritzbach stream late on Saturday afternoon. It was sitting motionless in the area of a gravel bank on a steep embankment. The local resident informed a friend who then went to look and carefully approached the fawn.

When he finally spotted the animal in the hard-to-reach place, he carefully moved away again so as not to frighten it. However, as it did not seem to move from the spot and there was no mother animal in sight, he finally informed the fire department, which was then alerted by the Salzburg State Alarm and Warning Center at 7.45 pm to rescue the animal.

From a distance, the stuffed fawn looked deceptively alive.

(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Pfarrwerfen)

An injured fawn was suspected
In fact, the team was able to quickly spot the young animal at dusk. Initially, they wondered whether it might have already died, but this seemed unlikely due to its raised head. It was even assumed that the fawn might have been injured.

The Floriani in Pfarrwerfen took care of the stuffed young animal.

(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Pfarrwerfen)

A team therefore equipped themselves with disposable gloves, a blanket and flashlights to rescue the animal as gently as possible. The rescue was surprisingly quick and uncomplicated. As it turned out, the animal had actually already died - and had been stuffed.

Stuffed young animal instead of a real fawn
The fawn was in fact a taxidermy specimen. It could not be determined who had placed it on the gravel bank of the Fritzbach and why. In any case, due to its condition, it could be ruled out that it had been washed up there by the water.

As it can be assumed that the amount of care required will be limited anyway, it was decided to temporarily store the fawn in the fire station.

Serious traffic accidents with human rescues, major fires, raging storms, a hazardous goods operation and a veritable flood of wasp nests - the small village fire department in Pfarrwerfen has been called out 143 times in 2024.