Holding on for deer life

Group prevents farmers from hitting young wildlife with their machinery.

Cedric Petit's drone hums above a Belgian field. He spots a white dot on the control screen a tiny fawn nestled in the tall grass soon to be rescued from a grisly end.

Four years ago, the 40-yearold wildlife lover founded a group with a simple mission. Saving Bambi helps farmers avoid the nasty surprise of finding a tiny mammal or nesting bird ground up by their farming machines.

Called in before the harvest, usually last-minute and working for free, Petit and his fellow volunteers use drones equipped with heat-sensitive cameras to locate at-risk animals and move them to the safety of the nearby woods.

"Accidents are happening more and more often that's why we're here," says Petit, tramping through a field of alfalfa, an animal feed crop, after a dawn rescue in Eghezee in central Belgium.

"Because of unpredictable weather linked to climate change, crops are growing all year round.

"Harvesting is coming earlier and earlier, including between late April and late June, which is the birthing period for fawns," adds Petit, who grew up in a family of farmers.