Saturday 9 November 2013

Santa's Helper??

As we drove up to Chinon earlier this week, we notice a sandwich board outside the newsagents which read:
"Cerf sur le toit d'un garage"

Our first thought was that this is a reflection of the quiet nature of the area in which we live; the only newsworthy event concerns a deer on a roof....

Well it's not something you read every day so we looked up the story on "La Nouvelle Republique" website and what we saw amazed us. To see the article for yourself, click here

This rather large animal had got itself up onto a garage roof, in Verneuil-sur-Indre, under cover of darkness. The lady interviewed remarked that she had heard noises around 5am but assumed it was someone putting bottles into the bottle bank...

When daylight came a passer-by noticed  (who wouldn't?!) the beast on the roof and telephoned les Sapeurs Pompiers.

They were at a bit of a loss initially....

 but managed to "encourage" the deer onto a tarpaulin and by fair means and foul it came down from the roof and made its way back to the forest!

The mayor rather philosophically commented that this wasn't the first brush with wildlife the village had known. In 2004 a wolf escaped from its enclosure at a wild animal training centre.... 

Now it's all very well the  mayor waxing lyrical but the incident has opened up a whole can of worms at La Croix Blanche...

Our regular readers will be aware of Colin's desire to own that most tasteful of Christmas decorations: the hanging Santa...

He has now identified the perfect companion for it:
un Cerf sur le toit
Maybe I should call the Sapeurs Pompiers!

4 comments:

GaynorB said...

I wonder whether he's got the date wrong and Santa really is 'stuck up the chimney'?

Susan said...

Absolutely remarkable! I'm interested that it was a Sika (a non-native species). He's a fine looking beast, and surprisingly unfussed by his predicament. Good on the sapeurs pompiers for getting him down unharmed.

Jean said...

I am also glad they got him down without injury.
But one has to ask - how on earth did he get up there in the first place and why?

A remarkable story, and thankfully one with a happy ending. I bet it's something those sapeurs pompiers will not forget in a hurry !!

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Perhaps from now on there will be an annual "Sika Award" in Verneuil-sur-Indre to recognise any Sapeur Pompier who goes above and beyond the call of duty whilst in possession of a tarpaulin... Just a thought!