Firefighters rescue small fawn from icy lake

A small fawn was seen by neighbors across from a lake as she struggled to get out of the icy waters. The fire department was called and two firemen came to the rescue.

WEST BLOOMFIELD TWP. Michigan – After arriving at Cass Lake two firefighters from West Bloomfield jumped into the freezing waters to try and rescue the fawn. The fire department received a call Sunday afternoon at approximately 2:30 when the deer was seen stuck in the lake through the ice at Dodge #4 State Park in Waterford Township. Sgt. Matt Majestic said, "People that live in the subdivision across from the park called and said they saw a deer stuck in the water, through the ice." He added, "A couple dogs from the neighborhood went out and barked at it, driving it further into the lake.” Sgt. Majestic and firefighter Kendall Stevens suited up in airtight dive jackets, jumped into the lake and started swimming toward the fawn. From the DNR office in the park, Gary Clean put in a call to veterinarian Michelle Shultz of Vet Ex, a local mobile veterinarian clinic based in Waterford. Shultz said, "It was amazing to see the two big guys swimming out in that icy cold water." Since the ice on the lake was about an inch or inch and a half thick, the firefighters pushed a kayak out ahead of them to help break the ice. Majestic stated, “As we worked our way toward her, she kept trying to head to shore and so she kept breaking through the ice." The small doe which according to Shultz couldn't have been more than 50 pounds was weakened by the icy water and her struggle to reach shore. When the firefighters reached her they were easily able to push her to shore. Shultz thought her job would be to euthanize the fawn after she had talked to the DNR officier. Shultz explained, “If it had really got frozen, that frozen tissue can be dangerous because when a blood flow is re-established, the toxins the muscle releases will actually kill the animal." She was surprised and happy to see the deer didn't appear to be that badly frozen. Shultz said, “Well, this is definitely not a dying deer. It was looking around and it had good blood flow to its lacerations.” Schultz proceeded to stitch up its lacerations and give the fawn an injection of antibiotics to keep it from getting any infections. The next step was to get the deer warmed up. Shultz said, “One of the guys used his Carhartt outfit to wrap the deer up" What happened next had Schultz amazed. Schultz said, “After we got the two lacerations on her leg closed, she got up and then she got a little spunky. She was looking around to escape, so we went ahead and let her go because I didn’t want her to stress so bad — that could’ve killed her too." Schultz believes the fawn will heal nicely and she hopes it will quickly find its herd. “It was really touching; I was hugging the DNR officer,” Shultz said.