Surviving winter in Canada can be an ordeal, for men and animals alike. Deers are no exception. These magnificent animals freely roam the vast Canadian wilderness all year round, but sometimes during harsh winters, they have to go the extra mile to survive, which inevitably puts them in danger.
Deers stuck on a frozen lake would not have made it without urgent rescue
A group of deers was crossing a frozen lake in Canada when disaster struck and the animals were left stranded with no help in sight. Their story wouldn’t have a happy ending if it weren’t for an unexpected hero who saved the day.
Fortunately, one man, who was in the right time at the right place, jumped to the rescue and saved the deers from an icy death!
Canadian skater immediately realized the deers were in mortal danger and acted fast
Ryan Peterson, a winter sports enthusiast, wanted to take advantage of a cold snap and enjoy a day out in the snow. As he made his way towards Lake of the Woods in Northern Ontario, he couldn’t dream that very soon he would be witnessing a drama unfolding on the frozen surface of the lake.
Ryan was gliding across the lake when he saw a group of three whitetail deers splayed on the ice and unable to move.
The deers looked exhausted and wouldn’t have made it back to shore
“If they’re upright, they can kick you,” Ryan told the media. “[But] once they’re down on the ice, their legs are flat out and they can’t lift them.”
He approached the deers carefully only to discover that they were exhausted. Left on their own, they wouldn’t have been able to make it back to shore. Even worse, stranded and unable to move, the deers would become easy prey for wolves or other predators.
Ryan knew he had to do something quickly if he was to save the deers from certain death.
“I figured I’d go back and eat lunch and grab some rope,” he explained, “I gave them about an hour or so. They were still in the same place when I came back … and that’s when I pulled them into shore.”
The multiple deers Ryan had saved, were, in fact, a family!
The rescue operation soon commenced, with Ryan approaching the mother first. He had secured the cord around her neck, even though she tried to resist, but fortunately was in no position to escape. After the mother was safely pulled towards the shore, Ryan returned to free her two fawns and pulled them both back to shore as well.
It took a little encouragement from Ryan to shoo the deers off the ice and back to the safety of dry land but they eventually left the proximity of the lake.
We’ve all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw Ryan pull off a daring rescue
How or why did the deer family end up stranded on the ice-covered lake remains a mystery but the happy ending is all that counts. Thanks to Ryan, the deer family avoided certain death.
Somewhere out there in the wild, a deer family is freely wandering the forests, all thanks to a timely intervention by a Canadian skater who saw them stranded alone on a frozen lake on that faithful winter day in Canada.
