Two deer tranquilized, lassoed in Dorchester

(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

By Michele Richinick, Globe Correspondent

Environmental police officers rescued two deer from a residential area in Dorchester this morning.

Two adult male deer were in an empty "enclosed area that looked like a parking lot" between Freeport and Ellsworth streets just before 10 a.m., said Kate Plourd, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Since the animals were in a dense residential neighborhood, environmental officers decided to rescue and transport the deer.

The officers tranquilized the animals and successfully relocated them to a wildlife management area in the central part of the state, Plourd said.

The deer have since recovered from the tranquilization.