

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP — A hunter's arrow that had pierced both sides of a young deer's head has been successfully removed, according to state officials and the woman who first notified authorities about the animal.

Staff from New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife tranquilized the deer Saturday afternoon in the backyard of Susan Darrah's Rockaway Township home, removed the arrow, treated the wound and released it back in the wild, Darrah said today. DEP Spokesman Larry Hajna confirmed the arrow removal.

"Everybody loves a happy ending," Darrah said.

After first spotting the deer with the arrow on Nov. 1, Darrah called Fish and Wildlife and authorities there instructed her to put out corn to draw the deer back into the yard. On different occasions, staff members staked out the area in an attempt to catch the animal and remove the arrow, she said.

Saturday evening, when the small deer wandered into her yard to eat, a member of Fish and Wildlife was able to tranquilize the animal, then follow it into the woods and bring it back into Darrah's yard, she said.

They removed the arrow, put topical antibiotics on the wound, gave it a shot of antibiotics and then waited for it to wake up. The biologists who did the procedure say the arrow did not damage major arteries or organs and the deer's prognosis for survival is excellent.

Once the deer was able to stand, it walked off into a nearby pasture and took a nap before it headed back into the woods, Darrah said.

"I can not say enough, give enough accolades to the guys at Fish and Wildlife," Darrah said. "These guys were dedicated, determined and totally respective of me and my property... They were just terrific."

The deer, which she had come to jokingly call Steve Martin because of the comedian's stand-up routine with a fake arrow through his head, gained notoriety worldwide after Darrah shared the first images of it with The Star-Ledger last week.

Darrah said friends in the Netherlands told her the story appeared in the largest newspaper in Holland and a friend at the Nairobi Hilton in Kenya sent her an email, letting her know that the deer's photograph and story also appeared in a newspaper there, as well.

Given the animal's celebrity, she is hoping that the 5-month-old male deer will survive the fall bow hunting season.

"He has as good a chance as any when it comes to making it," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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