'Happy ending' for deer rescued off frozen lake after 24-hour stranding

A deer who had been trapped on a frozen lake for 24 hours has been rescued by two Kamloops Search and Rescue (SAR)volunteers who used extreme caution on the ice.

Mike Ritceygot a call onDec. 3 from a woman who had noticed the deer onTunkwaLake and feared it was stuck.

The volunteer felt he should go and check on the deer, though it's not usually the job of SAR rescuers.

Ritceysaid he worriedthat an untrained person mighttry to save the animal and end up in danger.

"I figured it wouldbe safer if we went out on the ice because we have the proper equipment," he said.

"It is dangerous out there this time of year."

Ritcey called his friend and fellow SARvolunteer Michelle Liebe Hofsteeand they headed to the lake last night ona 70-kilometre drive west of KamloopsB.C., which takes about an hour.

They arrived to find the doe stranded on the ice.

"The ice was just like glass under a skiff of snow," Ritcey said.

It is dangerous out there this time of year.- Mike Ritcey

Ritcey and Liebe Hofstee made their way on to the ice, chopping it about every three metresto make sure the ice was thick enough to hold them.

When they finally made it to the deer, she was unable to get up.

They rolled the chilly creatureonto a toboggan and pulled it to the shore where they helped it recover.

Once the wobbly doe was able to stand she scurried away, said Ritcey.

"It definitely wouldn't have made it the night there was lots of coyotes around patrolling the shoreline," Ritcey said.

This isn't Ritcey's first deer rescue.

And he says such efforts don't always succeed.

After a different attemptto save a deer stuck onKamloopsLake he said the animal did not survive.

Birds had attacked it and pecked out the animal's eyes.

"That one never had a happy ending," he said.

• Deer shot in head with crossbow undergoes emergency arrow removal

Despite the result with this doe Ritceysays people should not generally call SAR for animal rescues.

Police or conservation officers are more appropriate calls for the task.

With files from Doug Herbert and Daybreak Kamloops