Have you ever seen a river monster? Sea beast? Mermaid? A family enjoying some time on the water saw something that made them believe, at least, until they got closer.
The Schmelzinger family are avid outdoors people, and the father, Joe, is obsessed or “hooked” on fishing, so to speak. You name a place, he’s probably been there as he has been all over the place and caught quite the array of finned beauties in his time.
The Lakeview, NY family was on a boat moving across Lake Ontario, and Schmelzinger figures they were at a depth of about 70 feet. They were on vacation in the Thousand Islands, a destination they return to frequently, so they are very familiar with the surroundings.
They were enjoying the gorgeous day and hoping for a large catch.
Well, they had netted a large haul, but not quite what you would think. Instead of a sizable fish, the Schmelzingers noticed a young buck struggling to swim across the vast lake, but the current was too strong for the baby deer to handle. That is when the family kicked into gear, determined to save the beautiful animal.
The Schmelzingers got up closer to the young deer, and the animal seemed to be floating closer to the vessel. Annette took out her cellphone and decided to record the one-of-a-kind water rescue. Her husband grabbed onto the baby deer and pulled it to safety up on the boat. The rescue took about 20 minutes of perfect timing just trying to get right next to the buck to make the move.
Once placed in the boat, the young buck did not become skittish. Instead, the family dried the soaked animal with some towels, and Alivia, 6, helped in the effort. She says she was concerned about the baby deer because “That thing didn’t even have floaties.”
The buck looked safe, cozy and a tiny bit frightened but also grateful to be out of the water.
As the Schmelzingers drove their boat along Lake Ontario, other curious boaters yelled out to them if they had caught anything. Of course, when they told them about a deer in the boat, it became quite the fish tale.
The family finally got the young buck to shore, into their truck, and off to a wooded area right off the island nearby to release the handsome creature back into nature.
Guy Peterson, a friend of the Schmelzingers, held the deer and slowly lowered the buck from the truck bed. It fell awkwardly onto the ground, ran under the truck and finally hopped off into the woods.
The baby deer was not injured and appeared to know exactly where it was headed.
That’s one amazing lake tale the Schmelzingers will be able to tell their friends and family for decades.
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Article via wivb.com
