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Stranded deer rescued from Lake Hopatcong
Animals broke through thin ice, needed help getting back to shore
BY MATT MANOCHIO
DAILY RECORD
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
JEFFERSON -- Firefighters from the township's Company 2 can perform ice rescues on Lake Hopatcong for man -- or beasts -- and they proved it very early Saturday morning.
The call came at 7:24: Eight deer had fallen through lake ice and faced almost certain death as they flailed, frightened and frigid, to clamber onto nearby thin ice.
The little herd was about 45 feet from solid ground near South New Jersey Avenue when police, fire and rescue squads arrived.
Deer aren't popular with many drivers, gardeners and farmers, and it's hunting season now, so what motivated the firefighters to bother?
"I would definitely say it was the humanity," fire department member Erica Patrick said of the rescue during a Monday phone interview.
"Basically, all life is precious," she said. "Once you were there and you actually witnessed them fight for life, and how cold the water was, it just kind of pulled (at you)."
Three OK; five to go
Police Lt. Eric Wilsusen on Monday said that three of the deer were immediately able to leap out of the water onto the ice and make it to land. Five others, however, were surrounded by slabs of ice that did not offer them a solid path to safety.
"We are trained in ice rescue and we do have a dive team," Patrick said of the team that set out to save the animals.
One rescuer remained in a boat while two others, ice picks in hand, entered the frigid water and chipped away at the ice, making a channel for the deer to navigate to the shore.
Three of the deer were able to swim through the chipped pathway and get to shallower waters, allowing them to jump from the water onto thicker ice and get to dry land.
A younger deer, which was really struggling, was guided to shore by the divers through the ice water and eventually collapsed after leaving the water.
The fifth deer didn't survive, Patrick said.
Heat, blankets
Fire and EMS workers tended to the youngest deer by giving it oxygen, heat packs and wrapping the cold creature in several layers of blankets.
"It took quite a while, but she actually made it back up into the woods," Patrick said. "She barely had any strength to stand."
All of the surviving deer were able to make it back to the woods on their own, she said.
Patrick estimated that the deer rescue took 45 minutes from water to land, and then another 45 minutes to help the young deer get its strength back.
"It was definitely a rare occasion," Patrick said. "We don't usually get called out for deer falling through ice."________
Stranded deer rescued from Lake Hopatcong
Animals broke through thin ice, needed help getting back to shore
BY MATT MANOCHIO
DAILY RECORD
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
JEFFERSON -- Firefighters from the township's Company 2 can perform ice rescues on Lake Hopatcong for man -- or beasts -- and they proved it very early Saturday morning.
The call came at 7:24: Eight deer had fallen through lake ice and faced almost certain death as they flailed, frightened and frigid, to clamber onto nearby thin ice.
The little herd was about 45 feet from solid ground near South New Jersey Avenue when police, fire and rescue squads arrived.
Deer aren't popular with many drivers, gardeners and farmers, and it's hunting season now, so what motivated the firefighters to bother?
"I would definitely say it was the humanity," fire department member Erica Patrick said of the rescue during a Monday phone interview.
"Basically, all life is precious," she said. "Once you were there and you actually witnessed them fight for life, and how cold the water was, it just kind of pulled (at you)."
Three OK; five to go
Police Lt. Eric Wilsusen on Monday said that three of the deer were immediately able to leap out of the water onto the ice and make it to land. Five others, however, were surrounded by slabs of ice that did not offer them a solid path to safety.
"We are trained in ice rescue and we do have a dive team," Patrick said of the team that set out to save the animals.
One rescuer remained in a boat while two others, ice picks in hand, entered the frigid water and chipped away at the ice, making a channel for the deer to navigate to the shore.
Three of the deer were able to swim through the chipped pathway and get to shallower waters, allowing them to jump from the water onto thicker ice and get to dry land.
A younger deer, which was really struggling, was guided to shore by the divers through the ice water and eventually collapsed after leaving the water.
The fifth deer didn't survive, Patrick said.
Heat, blankets
Fire and EMS workers tended to the youngest deer by giving it oxygen, heat packs and wrapping the cold creature in several layers of blankets.
"It took quite a while, but she actually made it back up into the woods," Patrick said. "She barely had any strength to stand."
All of the surviving deer were able to make it back to the woods on their own, she said.
Patrick estimated that the deer rescue took 45 minutes from water to land, and then another 45 minutes to help the young deer get its strength back.
"It was definitely a rare occasion," Patrick said. "We don't usually get called out for deer falling through ice."________
