Struggling deer saved from Red River by construction workers
A team of four men from a small Manitoba town came together to save a deer that had fallen through the ice.
Dennis Baudry runs a construction company in Ste. Agathe, Man. with his brothers Alain and Gilbert.
On Friday, an employee came back to the office after noticing a deer in the Red River while driving to a job.
"He came in the office and said, 'Dennis, there's a deer out on the south side of the bridge at Ste. Agathe in the water,'" said Dennis Baudry.
"So I quickly took that info and drove down to the river, and, of course, this deer was bobbing back and forth."
Estimating the deer had been in the river at least an hour, Baudry knew it was in trouble.
"It was sort of caught in this current in maybe four or five feet of water," he said.
Baudry assembled his brothers and the employee to create a plan to rescue the deer.
"We got a couple of chainsaws, some rope, an ice pick and we went down there and made a path."
The team sprung to action cutting into the thin ice to make a spot for the animal to surface.
(Source: Dennis Baudry)
"It was bobbing. It was just a matter of time. It was very weak. It was on its last legs," said Baudry.
After 15 minutes of work, one of the brothers managed to lasso the deer's antlers.
"On the second try, he was able to get it on his horns," Baudry said. "It took a good tug, but once we got it on the ice, we dragged it and we could tell it was very weak."
After untying the rope, Baudry and the other men anxiously watched to see if the deer would get up.
"It took about two to three hours of recovery and it took off," he said.
Despite being avid hunters, Baudry and his brothers were glad to see the deer flee.
"It was very satisfying. All of us put all our hunter things aside and were very happy to see this beautiful buck prance away."
(Source: Dennis Baudry)
According to Baudry, it's not uncommon for animals to have issues with the ice.
"There's a lot of deer that happen to fall at this time of year. Fortunately, this animal, we were able to see it and retrieve it and let it go."
While happy to help, Baudry assures that everyone was safe during the rescue.
"Being from the area, we sort of know the dangers of working on the ice. We were very careful."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.