Officials looking at Fort Sheridan Cemetery fence after deer deaths

The gruesome death of a deer at the Fort Sheridan Cemetery has prompted Lake County Forest Preserve District officials to examine the condition of a fence there.

The deer was discovered impaled Wednesday morning on a wrought-iron fence at the cemetery, which is within the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve near Highland Park.

It's the second deer to have died in that manner within the past year, forest district Executive Director Tom Hahn said.

The ornamental fence is about 6-feet tall and consists of bars with arrow-like tips. It was erected about three years ago, replacing an older fence that was in disrepair, Hahn said.

Another deer died on the fence within months of its construction, said Chuck Garrett, a caretaker and gravedigger at the cemetery.

Garrett, an independent contractor, called the fence “barbaric.”

“It's just wrong,” he said of the animals' deaths.

The deer that died this week may have gotten a hoof caught on its way over the fence, Hahn said.

“My guess is, the deer probably got spooked and tried to go over the fence,” Hahn said.

Or, the deer may have misjudged the height of the fence when it tried to leap over it, he said.

Workers had to use a construction vehicle and rope to pull the large animal from the fence, Garrett said.

Although Hahn said the fence is safe for humans, he and his staff are concerned about the two deer deaths.

Michael Fenelon, the forest district's director of planning, conservation and development, and natural resource manager Jim Anderson will examine the fence “to see what they can do” to remedy the problem, Hahn said. Alterations to the fence are possible options, he said.

“If there are deer that have died in an inhumane manner because of the fence, we certainly want to look into that issue,” he said.