THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996               TAG: 9601130120
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN              PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: SUFFOLK                            LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

WITH HELP FROM HUMANS, DEER IS FREED FROM ICE

As Clem Dalton saw it, the deer had made it through hunting season. He wasn't about to let it die in icy Chuckatuck Creek.

With the help of three Northern Suffolk residents, he launched a rescue operation that had a happy ending.

The adventure started about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, when Dalton saw the deer trapped in the ice near his deck, which juts over the water.

Mark Edwards, a horse trainer who operates Shiloh Stables, went with Dalton to the marshes and tried to lasso the deer.

When that didn't work, Dalton called his neighbor, Milton ``Buck'' Goolsby, who arrived on tractor - a good thing since Dalton's pickup truck had gotten stuck during the first rescue attempt.

It took mechanic Dale Fitzwater, of Doc's Garage and Used Cars in Chuckatuck, to figure out what rescue technique to use. Fitzwater, in Dalton's rowboat, broke thick ice in the creek until he reached the deer. He slipped a rope around its neck.

The three men on shore pulled the deer up the river bank. The deer, climbing the bank on its knees, balked and dove back into the river, but the men got the rope back around the deer and finally hauled him onto shore almost two hours after he was spotted.

The rescuers took the animal to Dalton's garden and piled hay on top to keep it warm. The deer rested while animal lover Dalton called local game wardens and state officials to try to find somebody willing to examine the animal.

Alas, when Jerry Snider of Wildlife Response arrived about 5 p.m., the deer - which made a quick recovery while eating his way out of the hay - had disappeared.

Dalton said he felt like he had done everything right. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II

Above: Dale Fitzwater, left, and Clem Dalton pack hay around the

deer they pulled from Chuckatuck Creek. The deer recovered.

Right: Fitzwater's rowboat leaves a trail in the partially frozen

creek. Dalton waits on the shore to help him in.

by CNB