Deer rescued from icy pond in South Hill
The deer was standing in the middle of a frozen pond, too exhausted to move.
A passerby spotted it just before 9 a.m. Thursday and knocked on the door of the property owner on 152nd Street East.
The owner immediately summoned the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and Central Pierce Fire & Rescue’s swift water rescue team.
The deer, believed to be a female, was on top of the ice.
“It was so slippery, she couldn’t walk,” said Capt. Darrin Shaw of Central Pierce Fire. “Wildlife (officers) went out on the pond and lassoed the deer and pulled it back in.”
One officer held onto the deer as other officers pulled the two across the ice and back onto solid ground.
To warm the deer up, the homeowner put blankets in the dryer and wrapped the deer in them.
By 11 a.m., the deer was strong enough to stand on its own and hopped back into the forest.
This story was originally published February 7, 2019 at 12:12 PM.
