DEALE, Md. (AP) — Maryland Natural Resources Police rescued two deer from a mud pit in Anne Arundel County over the weekend.

A call reporting the two stuck deer came in about 11 a.m. Saturday, and a team of three officers trained to handle wildlife emergencies responded, Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman with Natural Resources Police, told WTOP.

The officers used boards to reach the deer and “good old-fashioned tow rope” to extricate them, Thomson said.

The two bucks were exhausted and scared and sinking further into the bog as they scrambled their hooves. Officers also used an ATV to help pull them free.

The rescue took about two and half hours, Natural Resources police said in a tweet. The deer were apparently unharmed and, once freed, scampered into nearby woods.

“So often our officers are called to put down wildlife when they’ve been hit by a car or had another kind of emergency, so for them to be able to respond and watch the deer run off into the woods was really a feel-good ending,” Thomson said.

WTOP’s Jack Moore contributed to this report.