Last month in New Hampshire, a deer was traversing a frozen lake when a terrifying incident occurred — she plunged through the ice into the icy waters below.
Upon receiving a distress call about the stranded deer, the Gilmanton Fire Department sprang into action. A team of five rescuers swiftly mobilized, boarding their inflatable rescue boat and wasting no time in breaking through the ice to reach her.
Trapped in the heart of the lake, she was utterly immobilized. Stranded over 200 yards from the shore, her presence was barely discernible.
The rescuers arrived at the scene with impeccable timing. Discovering her desperately clinging to the ice with her front limbs, struggling to keep her head above the freezing water, they sprang into action. Without hesitation, the firefighters swiftly transported her back to solid ground. Fully aware of the precarious state of the lake’s thin ice, they diligently ensured she wouldn’t face another perilous predicament.
“John Cunningham, captain of the Gilmanton Fire Department, said, ‘[We] actually gave [her] a ride back on the boat up to somewhere that was safe in the woods so [she] didn’t run back into the lake.’
As for how she ended up in the middle of the lake, she was likely just trying to cross it and had no idea the ice wasn’t thick enough to support her weight. According to Cunningham, deer walk on that lake all the time, but since the weather had recently warmed up then cooled down again, the ice was much thinner than usual.”
When the firefighters brought the deer to shore, she required considerable assistance to recuperate from her ordeal in the frigid water.
“The deer was shivering and sufficiently cold that she wasn’t moving around much. So we utilized warming blankets to raise her body temperature,” Cunningham explained.
Once snugly wrapped in the blankets, the deer’s condition improved rapidly. In no time, she became more alert and regained mobility.
Cunningham noted that after approximately an hour, she spontaneously rose to her feet and “darted off into the woods.”
Thanks to the efforts of the compassionate firefighters, the deer was safely reunited with the forest she calls home.