Good Samaritans to the rescue
by The Standard | Podcast Dec 10 2020 https://thestandardnewspaper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Good-Samaritans-Rescue-Dec-10th-2020.mp3
JAMES J. GREEN, Special to the Standard
On Monday morning, about 8:30 a.m., Mr. and Mrs. Waller of Port Hoover, discovered a young female deer had fallen through the ice, near their home on Lake Scugog. Mrs. Waller told The Standard they suspected coyotes had chased the deer out on to the ice.
The Wallers along with their neighbours, the Blooms, felt compelled to come to the rescue. Ken Waller, and neighbour Karl Bloom, went out on the lake in their small fishing boat to chip a path for the deer to swim to shore. It took the two men over an hour to reach the deer, through the thickening ice, as the weather was turning colder. Unfortunately, by the time they had reached the deer, she was too exhausted to swim to shore on her own. So, Karl and Ken lifted her into the boat and brought her to shore. According to Karl, that was the riskiest part of the whole business.
Once ashore, Karl Bloom’s wife, Deb Bloom, contacted an animal sanctuary on how to proceed. They were instructed to put the deer on a sled and pulled her up into the sun in the front yard. There the deer could warm in the sun and was prevented from running back into the lake if spooked.
Mrs. Maisie Waller, wife of Ken Waller, wrapped the deer in warm blankets and tried, according to the sanctuary’s advice, to give the deer water to re-hydrate it.
By early afternoon, the deer had regained enough strength to return to the woods.
It’s nice to see, even during covid, people have not become so withdrawn, they have forgotten compassion for the need of other creatures. That’s being good neighbours, Merry Christmas!