Tuesday, February 14, 2017

The Great Deer-Under-the-Deck Rescue

March 26, 2016



This happened at George and Monica Fetzer's and I'm going to let Monica tell the story:

"So...what takes 1 firefighter, 2 doctors, 1 nurse, and a photographer/water carrier?  Give up? Need a hint? It happened right here, on our moorage...you might say right beneath our feet!
Give up for real? Ok...drumroll...

We saved a deer that got stuck UNDER our house! Yes. Believe it, we have the pictures to prove it!

Last Friday George and I were peacefully watching a documentary about the Hubble telescope. It was about 9:30 p.m. I kept hearing a funny noise...kind of an erratic kerthunking. After about 15 minutes of this I asked George if he heard it...in effect I guess I had unwittingly called the fire department's closest first responder! He thought the sound was coming from the dock side of our house, grabbed the flashlight, and headed out the back door. I headed out the front door. We converged at the corner of our house, where I saw the area had been soaked by some intense splashing. Hmmm....that's odd. Then I heard loud breathing...almost snorting...and saw plumes of hot air emanating from under our house What???!!!  I cautiously shone the flashlight under there...and with shocked disbelief saw two huge ears, attached to a large head with bulging black eyes and a long nose..."George...there's a DEER under our house"!  Now what! Unsure that we could get this resolved on our own, I called Mike...you know, the emergency doctor!! After a "you've got a WHAT stuck under your house?" he gathered a small arsenal of equipment and came down. In the meantime Ed and Ellen (cue doctor #2 and the nurse), on their way home, stopped to see what the commotion was all about and to try to help us figure out what to do! By the time Mike arrived George was taking up deck boards, as it was quite clear the deer wasn't getting out the same way she got in. 

Once she was exposed, Mike (with the strap he had just bought that day) was able to pull...I mean really PULL her up. I swear it looked like a deer was being delivered from between the logs of our house. Once he got her onto the dock one of the doctors diagnosed hypothermia and ordered large amounts of warm water. Just about then the nurse noticed a rounded belly...she's most likely pregnant! About 100 gallons, 2 blankets, and LOTS of intense shivering later, our 'patient' finally started looking around and moving her ears. That was when we started wondering how we were going to get her off the dock to the safety of land! Pulling didn't work. Pushing didn't work. Herding with a lawn chair didn't work. Waving our arms didn't work. We considered trying to load her into a dock cart...that CERTAINLY wouldn't have worked.  A boat was even considered.
Eventually, she started to walk...but the 'wrong' way, towards the end of the dock, still wearing a blanket. Now word was spreading, and Tom Jr joined us. He must have had the magic touch though, cause no sooner had he approached this slowly reviving deer, she knew what she had to do and SPLASH...jumped into the water and enthusiastically swam to shore! We followed her progress up the bank, through the heavy shrubbery, until we knew she had made it!   

After 2 hours, our job here was done! And yes, George and I finished our documentary...just a bit more aware of the wonders NOT only in the heavens...but also right under our feet!"







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