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Georgia Wildlife Division safely extracts Gatorade bottle from doe’s snout

Animals are heavily affected by littering and this video proves it.

Staff members from the Georgia Department of Natural Resource’s (DNR) Urban Wildlife Program (UWP) were called to the scene of a doe with a plastic Gatorade bottle stuck around her snout. The incident happened in Fayetteville.

According to rescuers, the bottle was cutting into the top of her snout. She could still breathe and eat despite the inconvenience.

DNR safely removes bottle from doe’s snout.
DNR safely removes bottle from doe’s snout. Georgia Wildlife Resources Division

Staff members helped safely attract the deer and sedate her so they could get closer and remove the bottle. The staff placed a towel over her eyes to keep her calm as they worked.

DNR darted the doe to get closer and keep her still, so they could remove the bottle.
DNR darted the doe to get closer and keep her still, so they could remove the bottle.

Once the bottle was successfully removed, she was released and last seen returning to her fawn.

According to Sciencing, “The World Wide Fund for Nature reported some 1.5 million tons of plastic waste from the water bottling industry alone.”

Much like the doe in the video, Sciencing also said that “animals may crawl into the bottles looking for food and water and become stuck and slowly die from starvation and illness.”

The Urban Wildlife Program is part of the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) dedicated to resolving conflicts with wildlife in urban and suburban areas of Middle GA.

WRD is one of five divisions under the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. According to their website, the division is tasked with “conserving, enhancing and promoting Georgia’s wildlife resources, including game and nongame animals, fish and protected plants.”

For more information on how you can protect the animals of Georgia, visit the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division website.

Chelsea Madden
The Telegraph
Chelsea is a service journalism reporter who began working for McClatchy in 2022. She was born and raised in Middle Georgia and lives in Forsyth. She attended Wesleyan College for undergrad and a few years after that, went to SCAD for an MFA in writing. Outside of work, Chelsea likes to watch Netflix, read books in the thriller genre and chase her toddler around.
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