animals, port angeles, washington state

<< The Elwha and Madison Falls

01/25/15 - Dead Deer

We recently found a dead deer on a patch of land we owned. It was well away from the road and quite dead. We wanted it removed. There wasn't an obvious dead animal removal service in the local Yellow Pages or online phone book. Google didn't have a clue, so we started with the local police, the county, Washington State Fish and Wildlife and so on. Since the animal wasn't actually on the road, the roads people wouldn't touch it; Fish and Wildlife suggested that we dump it on state land, but when they weren't sure if DNR land was state land or not, we discounted this suggestion. The local animal shelter suggested that Olympic Game Farm might want the carcass. Others mentioned them as well, but the folks at the game farm had no idea of how they had gotten such a carrion reputation. We considered burying the animal not far from where it fell, but our excavator warned us not to. If anyone dug up the bones in the future it might become a matter for the national government and the local tribes. We were going around in circles now and getting no closer to getting rid of the late but apparently, judging by the nonchalant behavior of the other deer in the area, not lamented.

We called the Olympic Game Farm again. When dealing with organizations with more than one person involved, it usually pays to call more than once. This time we got another lead, the Northwest Raptor Center. Perhaps we could stuff it into a time machine and feed it to a velociraptor. The raptor center didn't deal with time machines or velociraptors. They were involved in conserving our local birds of prey, and they had no use for a dead deer, but they did know a guy. They put us in touch with Mike Love who used to do dead animal removal for the county. He also used to be a disk jockey. He dropped by and, for a modest fee, removed the carcass. Our problem was solved. If you ever find yourself in the Port Angeles or Sequim area and need to remove the deerly departed, you might want to call him yourself. His number is (360) 477-6670.

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