THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110375
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Buck and a young friend were taking a shortcut across the inch-thick ice of Chuckatuck Creek early Wednesday when the ice began quaking under the 150-pound deer's hooves.
The deer, who sported a six-point rack, was quickly in the water, trapped by the heavy ice.
But this was one lucky buck.
The place of his entrapment happened to be near the deck of the waterfront home of animal-lover Clem Dalton.
Dalton said he first saw the deer about 9:30 a.m. and, from the path of the broken ice, figures the animal fought his way about 50 yards across the creek, trying to get to shore.
``I knew I had to do something,'' Dalton said. ``I couldn't help but think that he'd made it through hunting season. It didn't make sense he should die like that.''
There's no shortage of deer in Dalton's neighborhood. In the mostly undeveloped, wooded, waterfront acres at the end of Cherry Grove Road near Chuckatuck, there's also no hunting. And it's not unusual to see deer swimming in the creek, Dalton said.
He likes the wildlife there. He said he felt responsible when he saw the helpless deer. The cry went out across the community.
First, Mark Edwards, a horse trainer who runs Shiloh Stables, got involved. Edwards, with Dalton, made his way through the marsh and tried to lasso the deer.
When that didn't work, they called on another neighbor, Milton ``Buck'' Goolsby. He tooled down the road on his tractor. That came in handy because, meanwhile, Dalton had gotten his pickup truck stuck.
When three men couldn't rescue the deer, Dalton called his friend Dale Fitzwater in Chuckatuck, owner of Doc's Garage and Used Cars. Fitzwater, the hero of the day, climbed into Dalton's rowboat and, breaking the heavy ice as he went, made his way to the deer.
``By that time, the deer was exhausted,'' Dalton said. ``He didn't put up a fight when Dale put a loop around his neck.''
``The whole time, the rest of them were standing in the marsh, yelling at me that I'd never make it,'' Fitzwater said, laughing.
The three men on shore pulled the dazed animal up the steep bank surrounding the marsh. About that time, Dalton said, a fawn who had apparently been with the buck jumped up and darted away.
``Buck (the man) and Mark pulled the deer on shore; it jumped up and went back in the water,'' Dalton said. ``We got a line around him again, and we put him in the garden. I've been fighting all year to keep deer out of my garden. Then, I put one there.''
About noon, the men finally covered the exhausted animal with two bales of hay to help restore its body heat, and got on the telephone.
``We called all the way to Richmond trying to get somebody up here to see about the deer,'' Dalton said. ``I don't want anybody to put him down. He deserves a chance. I don't think he's hurt. I think he's just worn out and half frozen.''
By late afternoon, Buck (the deer) was still huddled beneath the hay, quietly munching a small mouthful now and then. The warmth and good food must have been exactly what he needed.
When a representative from Wildlife Response, Jerry Snider of Chesapeake, got to the scene of the rescue about 5 p.m., the deer was gone. He'd apparently gotten up from the hay, jumped the garden fence and escaped to the great outdoors.
``It makes me feel good, like we did everything right,'' Dalton said. ``I'm just glad he made it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
After Wednesday's ordeal, the deer rests, wrapped in hay, in the
Suffolk garden of Clem Dalton.
by CNB