Sheriff's office uses drone to rescue 3 deer from frozen lake
"We've done a lot of human rescues, looking for people, lost people, search and rescue stuff, accident scene crashes. Never done one doing a herd deer drive with a drone," sheriff's Detective Josh Ward said.
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A detective from the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin got creative with the rescue of a doe and two fawns on March 15. He used a drone to herd them to shore after they fell through ice.
March 20 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin sheriff's office used a drone to rescue three deer that had fallen through the thin ice on a partially frozen lake.
The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to Big Green Lake on a report of multiple deer in distress.
"We've done a lot of human rescues, looking for people, lost people, search and rescue stuff, accident scene crashes. Never done one doing a herd deer drive with a drone," sheriff's Detective Josh Ward told WBAY-TV.
The sheriff's office shared video on Facebook showing the drone's point-of-view from the rescue.
Ward said deputies were concerned they would spook the doe and two fawns if they tried approaching in person.
"If we came from the shoreline with a boat, they're just going to try and get away, and you're actually doing more harm than good because you're pushing them further and further away from shore. We couldn't come in from the waterside, because that's obviously all froze over," he said.
Ward flew the drone toward the deer from the far side, encouraging them to move closer to shore instead of further out into the lake.
Ward said one of the fawns was too exhausted to make it over some rocks, but he was able to use the drone to bring the deer close enough to be caught with a rope.
The deer family was reunited on shore and returned to the wild.
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