This forlorn deer was stranded, shivering and shaking, on the Grand Marais harbor ice for much of Saturday, January 2. The animal was rescued by DNR staff and conservation officers on Sunday morning. Photo courtesy of Paul Sundberg
People milling about the Coast Guard parking lot on Saturday, January 2, looked on helplessly as a whitetail deer ran past everyone and jumped into the Grand Marais harbor on Lake Superior, starting what would be a long struggle for survival.
One eyewitness said the deer “appeared very frantic” before it leaped into the frigid water a little after 2 p.m. She described the ordeal this way, “My friend and I were enjoying a late lunch, sitting in the car, admiring the view around the harbor. Suddenly, a deer bolted across the parking lot and abruptly stopped when it got to the harbor edge. The deer turned and ran along the edge for about ten feet and then plunged into the harbor’s icy water.
“It was a horrible thing to see because it was hard to imagine how the animal could survive the deep cold water. The deer would certainly die.”
“But, the deer was surrounded by broken ice, and it was strong enough and clever enough to climb up on the ice pieces. It would climb up on an ice slab and then fall back into the water. Climb up and fall back into the water. Sometimes the ice slab was big enough so the animal could take a short rest.”
“My friend called 911 to report the incident and to find out if a Conservation Officer was available. A few minutes later, two County Deputies showed up and cleared the parking area; they hoped that this would encourage the deer to move back toward the shore. The animal had been in the water for about 30 minutes by that time and was moving farther out into the harbor, toward the edge of the broken ice field.
“I left the area because I didn’t want to watch the beautiful creature die. The last time I looked out over the harbor, only a small part of the deer’s head was above the water’s surface. I was sure it must have drowned and wept all the way home.”
Throughout the evening, the deer would find purchase on a small ice flow before plunging into the lake and then swim for another piece of ice, repeating the process.
The next morning as daylight lifted over the harbor, more people gathered to see the exhausted deer. Somehow, the animal was still alive and was standing on a slab of ice in the middle of the harbor. Once again, Cook County Law Enforcement came and scooted people away, creating an open clear shore area. Minnesota DNR staff and Conservation Officers took a boat into the harbor and successfully assisted the deer off of the ice and to the shore. After 18 hours in the cold water and on the ice, when it was last seen, the very tired weary deer was running into the woods on Artist’s Point.
As for the woman who last saw the deer struggling to survive in the water?
“Next day, big surprise! It was wonderful news to discover that the DNR staff had gotten a boat out and guided the deer back to shore early Sunday morning.”
What could have been a bad outcome turned into good news for the deer, the rescuers, and for all of the folks who hoped desperately that the deer would survive long into the new year.
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