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Nate Buckhout and Andrew Madden of MassWildlife use a sled to bring out a deer caught in the flood chute as Animal Control Officer Kim Witek leads the way.
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The deer got in between a railing and a fence at an access ramp into the flood control chute.
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Doe Saved From Adams Flood Chute

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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The deer, seen in this photo taken by resident Matt Collins, was trapped in the cold water of the chute. 
ADAMS, Mass. — It was a team effort for state Fish and Wildlife, Adams animal control and Adams Police who rescued a lost doe from the flood control chute on Friday.
 
It was a tense afternoon for Animal Control Officer Kim Witek, who rushed to the Winter Street flood chutes on her day off after photos of a doe struggling through the rushing waters surfaced on Facebook.
 
"We must have been following it for a mile," Witek said. "It does look OK though there is some hair missing but that is all I can see .... it must be freezing."
 
Witek called the Environmental Police Office and was told because the doe appeared to be fine, to leave it alone, keep it away from people and allow it to find its way out.
 
"There is not a lot they can do," she said. "I don't know how it is going to get out though."
 
The deer is believed to have entered the flood chute near Aladco on Commercial Street. It continued its trek against the rushing cold water until it came upon a flood chute access point behind the Myrtle Street Apartments. It ran up the ramp, enclosed by a fence, away from the water to ground level.
 
Witek's first thought was to try to get the gate open and coax the deer out of the flood chute.
 
"At least it is out of the water and that is what we want," she said. "If we can get it out of there we can work on getting it out of the downtown."
 
While waiting for the Department of Public Works to bring keys to the locked gate, the doe made its move and hid behind a metal structure on the very edge of the flood chute.
 
Thankfully, when the situation seemed most dire, a MassWildlife representative showed up and assessed the situation.
 
MassWildlife's Western District biologist Nate Buckhout asked Witek to call the Police Department to monitor Myrtle street traffic. The plan was still to coax the doe out of the flood chute.
 
However, the deer was not moving and Buckhout said because it was so close to the edge of the chute, coaxing it to strongly could cause the doe to jolt the wrong way.
 
"We don't want it to jump off," he said. "It is a precarious spot. A lot of time we can just let them go on their own, but this is not a great area for that."
 
Buckhout said the other option would be to tranquilize the doe, however, this too could also send the doe into the flood chute.
 
"The initial dart causes the animal to move," he said. "It stings, and we don't want it jumping. It's a matter of getting the drug into it if we can. We don't want it to fall over the edge."
 
He added that the dart itself could be fatal if the doe is worked up. If its heart rate is up, the tranquilizer could send it into cardiac arrest.
 
Buckhout asked everyone to back off and let the deer calm down.
 
After a few minutes, Western District Manager Andrew Madden and an Adams Police officer slowly approached the doe to see how close it would let them get. The doe appeared to be exhausted and was not moving.
 
Buckhout and Madden decided it was time to try the tranquilizer gun.
 
Madden slowly approached the doe and lined up the tricky shot through a fence.
 
The first shot missed.
 
Thankfully the doe was not startled, and Madden was able to line up the second shot. After the puff of air from the gun, Madden gave the small group of onlookers forming around the access point the thumbs up.
 
Buckhout and Madden lifted the doe into the sled and pulled it to safety.
 
Buckhout said there are few places in the state that will rehabilitate an adult doe and if it is injured to a point where they just can't let it loose they will, unfortunately, have to put it down.
 
Madden said they will take the doe to the woods and assess its injuries.
 
"She's a little beat up especially her back leg but it doesn't look broken," he said. "We will clean her up, see how it looks, and hopefully we can give her the benefit of the doubt." 

Tags: deer,   flood control,   MassWildlife,   wildlife,   

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Hoosac Valley High School is Moving and Shaking

There have been some major shifts within the Hoosac Valley Regional School District recently, all of which have focused on enhancing the student experience to make it a place where ALL students can find their path.
 
In 2023, Hoosac Valley High School was designated an Innovation Pathway School by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and has since restructured the Program of Studies, utilized creative scheduling, and expanded internship opportunities. Part of this transformation includes participating in a "Portrait of a Graduate" cohort alongside four other Berkshire County schools to determine a collective vision for student success, in partnership with the BARR Foundation.
 
The Innovation Pathways at HVHS are designed to give students coursework and experience in a specific high-demand industry, such as technology, engineering, healthcare, or life sciences. Currently, Biomedical Science & Healthcare and Environmental Studies have received official state IP designation. In addition to the IP designated pathways, HVHS offers programs in Engineering & Technology, Business & Entrepreneurship, Arts & Entertainment, Education, and Sports Medicine. The result is that students have an opportunity for a transformative experience – enabling them to build essential skills, gain awareness of future career opportunities, and make informed choices about post-secondary education in promising fields.
 
Principal Colleen Byrd notes, "What makes our program special is that entry into the Pathway of your choice allows a student to access Advanced Placement and dual enrollment college courses, as well as internships in the community to set them up for success after high school."
 
The Portrait of a Graduate initiative consists of a team of Hoosac educators and students who exemplify the essential skills, practices, and beliefs that define learning experiences across the district. They work to outline the competencies, values, skills, and knowledge that define our vision for student success – keeping in mind that not every student's pathway will look the same. The District's goal is to ensure that all students graduate as responsible people, prepared individuals, lifelong learners, global citizens, critical thinkers, and thoughtful communicators.
 
Another recent change district-wide in grades K-12 is the "Crew" culture. Teachers and students now have time each day to create positive connections and build authentic relationships with one another. Through Responsive Classroom at the elementary school and Crew at the middle and high schools, students and staff gather for 30 minutes each day to engage in meaningful experiences rooted in mutual and shared interests. 
The Crew block is a prioritized structure that allows staff to support all students socially, emotionally, and academically – anchoring them and promoting the Portrait of a Graduate competencies. Crew takes many forms at the high school, such as gardening, bird watching, yoga, and sports talk with visits to college games.
 
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