Deer Rescue on Lake Superior!

On Saturday morning, my brother's morning paddle turned into a White-tailed Deer rescue! Dave lives on the north shore of Lake Superior, west of Thunder Bay.

Fresh ice formed the night before when temperatures dipped to -12 Celsius. When Dave first spotted the ice flow, the deer was 1 kilometre from shore. (Isle Royal is the dark land form in the distance.) The noise of Dave's approaching canoe gliding through thin ice caused the deer to jump into the water. It then started swimming for shore.  Dave wasn't hopeful that it would be able to swim the entire distance.

Incredibly, it reached shore but was exhausted, cold, and could go no further.

Dave initially moved the deer out of the water, but it was never going to climb up the ice shelf.

The deer allowed Dave to pick him up and move him to a better place on the beach. Since the sun was warming things up nicely, Dave left him alone and hoped for the best. 

🌞🌞🌞

This morning when he paddled back to the site of the beach rescue, the deer was gone. Since there was no sign of a struggle with a predator, he believes the deer recovered! I'm very proud of you, Dave! Right place, Right time, Right person!