Mom never gave up hope ❤️
Billy Voerg, a water treatment plant operator in New York, was heading into work one morning when an unusual sound caught his attention. Following the noise led him to a surprising sight: a fawn in desperate need of help.
The baby deer was nearly submerged in one of the facility’s water treatment lagoons, struggling to escape. Voerg went inside to inform water superintendent Mike Hopf about the situation.
“I said, ‘We’ve got a little rescue mission on our hands,’” Voerg explained.
The lagoon was lined with a slippery, tarp-like material, which likely prevented the fawn from climbing out. Voerg and Hopf deduced that the fawn must have fallen in overnight and spent hours trying to get out.
“The fawn was definitely cold,” Hopf said. “[It] must have been in there long enough to be shivering like that.”
In Hopf’s 13 years on the job, he had never encountered a fawn in such a predicament. Despite this, he and Voerg knew what needed to be done. Voerg donned his waders and carefully entered the lagoon. As he lifted the fawn out of the water, the baby let out a few soft bleats. Nearby, they could hear the fawn’s mother lightly snorting from the forest.
“I think she knew we were trying to help and not harm the baby,” Hopf observed.
The fawn was calm as Voerg placed it on the soft grass. Within minutes, it fell asleep, feeling secure enough to rest for two to three hours. Hopf speculated that Voerg’s quick bond with the fawn might be due to his own experience as a new father.
“Voerg was very comforting … There was that parental instinct that came through,” Hopf noted. “There was an instant connection.”
After resting in the warm sun, the fawn appeared much better. Voerg and Hopf carried the fawn back to the woods, where its mother was waiting. Through the fence, they saw the mother tenderly licking her baby.
Voerg and Hopf haven’t seen the fawn since the rescue, but they are content knowing that it has recovered and been reunited with its mother.
“Just knowing the fawn is okay is enough for us,” Hopf said.