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| PiJoly | profile | all galleries >> all_galeries >> DEER RESCUE Bamby / SAUVETAGE CERF DE VIRGINIE Bambinette >> ENGLISH VERSION BAMBINETTE RESCUE | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
as well as details on the conclusion of the rescue. TO VIEW THE 33 RESCUE PHOTOS CLICK ON THIS LINK: |
| \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\*///////////////////////////////////////////////// Here is the full story of Bambinette's rescue. What better way to relieve a cold than two aspirins and a walk in the fresh air to invigorate yourself and lighten the mind. So here I am at Parc National des Îles de Boucherville. Park that I travel back and forth several times a day and where each time a new scene opens up to my lens. The day had started with a cloudless sky, both literally and figuratively. The air was cool, -15°C, but the azure and nature offered me so much, that with a warm underwear (which was required), some Kleenex and a good thermos of honey sweetened herbal tea, I forgot the coldness of winter . From the top of the footbridge which straddles the small river in the park, under a grazing light, hot and cold at the same time, on the frozen river, a red silhouette stands out against the white tablecloth. That of a red fox scanning the surroundings in search of its lunch, with in front of it another silhouette, this one giant, of its slender shadow so disproportionate it looked like a shaggy gray cat climbing on stakes. A little further on my way, I came across deers resting in the undergrowth. Not to mention many winter birds. Later in the afternoon the sky gradually clouded over. As I crossed the footbridge again for another lap, I found my friend the fox still hunting. Two hours later, crossing the footbridge one last time to return home, I heard in the distance like a child's crying ... At first glance in the distance over the frozen river, I thought that the cries were coming from the sturdy figure of the fox, which I had photographed in the same spot earlier. So I took my telephoto camera to bring it closer and better judge the reason for its moans. What was my surprise to find that it was in fact a deer whose head disappeared and reappeared from a hole in the ice! MISERY! As I rushed in his direction, I passed a couple of hikers on their way to the reception post. So I asked them to hastily warn the warden so that he could join me with help and the necessary equipment. A few minutes later, here I am, in the deep snow abov my knees, short of breath from a run and a nasty cough, face to face with the disarming distress of a life on the brink of disaster. The lonely, chilled, pitiful-looking animal that turned out to be a young doe, somehow floated for its survival in this hole in the middle of the river. As much as she struggled before I arrived, disappearing and reappearing from her tomb, that the moment she saw me loom up beside her, perhaps both delighted and confused, she suddenly calmed down. Through her moans and the moving beauty of her large, glassy eyes set with ice cubes, she seemed to want to say to me, "But what are you waiting for to get me out of this hole? As the ice by the riverside cracked in large patches under my weight and the doe, now calmer, but tensing in fits and starts, seemed to hang on the edge of the hole, I decided to stay on the shore and take some pictures of this moving scene while waiting for help. The emotion was at its height. I felt both privileged and insignificant to take pictures under such circumstances, but since the only tool of "survival" in my possession was my camera (as much as a photo can survive us) so I set to profit my "reflex". But suddenly she began to have powerful respiratory spasms with apnea lasting several seconds, as if she was trying, like a cat, to regurgitate a hair ball. Then, losing hold, she disappeared under water… MISERY! It couldn't wait any longer. As she struggled beneath the surface, I snapped a long willow branch and, on my knees, quietly approached the center of the universe. (Poetic dramatization you might say! But isn't the center of the universe right where life is extinguished?) Anyway, although the fear did not really reside in me during the intervention, to see the water, by my weight, overflow from the hole and join me, I questioned myself for a fraction of a second about the relevance of my temerity, but nothing more. Seeing the overflow, I lay down full length on the ice to distribute my weight and began to crawl towards the hole. The doe that managed to resurface for a moment, probably frightened by my proximity, stirred and vanished again, but this time not only under water, but also under ice. Face down, plunging my arm under the water while rummaging, I barely had time to grab it by one ear and then grab it by the neck before it disappeared again under the water, or even under ice. Once the head was out of the water and the front paws hooked to the ledge, as she struggled briskly, this allowed me to roll on myself to pull her completely out of the water by rocking her over me like a wrestler or a judoka would. As soon as she was totally out of the water, it was dead calm. - Already the mirror we were in had sunk an inch or two, it was better to calm down and stay still. - Saved from the waters, but not from all danger, I let go of the doe immediately so that it could flee away from me and the hole whose periphery was becoming more and more greedy. Once the doe was gone, all I had to do was roll over myself to the shore. But there you go ... She didn't. She stood there, silent and almost 'frozen', her head turned towards me, staring at me with her large frosted eyes seeking her breath just like me through prolonged chills and spasms. We were both lying on the ice side by side like two dazed frozen seals on a drift ice banked. (Ice floe 2.0 from the 2000s) Except that me, my right arm and hands soaked and frozen, was the one near the abyss, coughing like hell! At that moment, exhausted, dizzy and nauseous, my heart was pounding so hard and my vision was so clouded and dotted that, to say the truth, I thought for a moment that I was going to pass out. But once again, facing this scene, this heartbreaking gaze, the worry disappeared and the superego won out. Both stretched out like a spoon, me and this doe which, the neck twisted to look at me, all stiff, chilled, the front legs curled up on themselves and bleeding slightly, the back legs straight and stiff as fur soaked in icy water which froze on contact with the air and glassed his mustaches and ears, and those respiratory spasms caused by exhaustion and hypothermia which, sometimes bent his back inwards, sometimes outwards and at the same time hit me in the stomach; yes, that scene made me forget myself completely. Seeing her like that, continuing to turn her head towards me, staring at me as if to signify her approval to continue this rescue, I thought for a moment that she was going to speak to me. Who knows ? Was she thinking of telling me: What are we doing now? Will it still be very long? …? Without further ado I pushed her with my arms as far as possible and then even further with my feet so that she understood that she was now free to go, at least that I wanted her to move away. But she didn't. She remained where she was, motionless and quiet, her head constantly turned towards me as if awaiting the next steps. I rolled over towards her, then to push her again a few times before getting up on my knees to grab her and pull her further. Holding her as best I could in my arms, I hurried back to the shore by taking a different route having already weakened the ice before. Halfway, not far from shore, my knees couldn't take any more. So I stood up to take the few remaining steps and then… CRAC! With one foot stuck in the ice, water over my boot, I stumble… And VLAN! We are both on our stomachs face first in the snow. Too bad for the ego, here we are on the shore safe and sound! OUFF! To celebrate, let's go, let's cough in unison! While I was struggling to find my breath, she, on her back, still seized with almost convulsive spasms, seeming unable to flee, still staring at me with her large mirrors as if to say: and now, what are we doing? And me to say to myself: MISERY! This park warden, where is he? Anyway, once I came to my senses, with my hands as spatulas, I scratched his back and ribs to extract as much of the accumulated water as possible. Then I covered the doe with snow as if to circumscribe the icy air, then I blew hot air into its nostrils to try to slow down hypothermia a little (technique that I read in a survival book). I wish she had done the same for me, but hey ... It seemed to bear fruit, a few minutes later, crawling on her knees, she tried as best she could to get out in the direction of the river. Well done my beautiful! I shouted out loud to him, encouraging him with Wouè! Wow! And clapping my hands while watching her slip away ... Run towards. . . MISERY! . . . Towards the hole! It was heading straight in that direction. She probably wanted to stay near the hole to wait for her fellow deers who knew she was there (?) Anyway, I grabbed it by the hind legs to bring it back a little further from the shore. From there, I lifted her up so that she got on her four legs, which I had to unfold myself one after the other, because she did not seem to be able to do it herself, then once standing, I massaged her vigorously to stimulate and motivate her, then with a slap on the back I pushed her towards the woods. Unfortunately, she collapsed again. So I laid her down under a large willow tree while waiting for help. Once the two of us had calmed down, but still coughing up my lungs, I took the opportunity to take a few more "selfie" photos and. . . Voumm! Here it goes straight back to the damn hole. Once around a third time, it made me think (not too soon!) to study the scene as a whole, only to finally understand that it was probably not the hole that interested her but rather the other shore. Maybe his family was there? As the light of day was drawing to a close, that help did not seem to want to appear, and that the rescue was after all completed, I therefore decided without further delay to make the great crossing to end this adventure. Adventure that had to come to an end, because the park was going to close its doors soon, and moreover, I was shivering feverishly and coughing more and more painfully. So with countless detours, we finally arrived on the other side. Did I still have to climb the embankment with thisBeauty in my arms to the other side so that her fellows could finally see and welcome her. I say "see him", because there was no way for her, given her condition, to run around towards them. She was unable to stand on her feet. I still had to, in order for her to stand up, to unfold her legs and spread them far enough apart (as we would with "POKEY" the plasticine pony, GUMBY's faithful companion) to give her an uncertain and fragile balance. Unfortunately, when we got to the top, no deer were there except the silhouette of a man who seemed to be watching me from behind some bushes. What does it matter! I left the doe there for a moment to retrieve my camera, which I had taken care to hang on a branch on the other side of the river. Fault! Here she goes again for the cursed hole, crawling and tumbling down the embankment. No way!? So I rushed over to catch her and bring her back up the embankment. While I was massaging and stroking the doe to secure and warm it, then, almost three-quarters of an hour later, I heard a snowmobiler seemingly heading our way. Although it was a good distance away, I could still recognize that it was the park warden. Finally! As I had observed earlier a family of deer lying under staghorn sumac trees on the other side of the park, I intended to suggest the keeper to transport the doe there and let nature do the rest. But now, the keeper came to a halt more than 300 yards from us behind a mound and began to spy on us discreetly. (?) I didn't understand a thing !? Exhausted from all this adventure and practically unable to scream, I wave to get him to take his snowmobile at most (Tab ...! * &?% $ # "! °) quickly. Now, coming out of his hiding place, the famous snowshoe walker approached me saying: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, It's my fault I took you for a poacher when I saw you dragging the deer through the undergrowth on the other side! I was the one who warned the keeper! I apologize! I replied breathlessly with my head tilted forward: it's going to be fine, it was the right thing to do, but in the meantime could you keep an eye on the doe, I have to go back to the other side to get my camera! The guard, seeing us discussing calmly, finally joined us. Taking note of the facts and, finding my idea of transporting the poor animal to a safe place relevant and judicious, he agreed to take us there before closing the park. We therefore tied the hind legs independently from the front legs, using a heavy gauge nylon cord, so that in this way, I, sitting in the rear basket of the snowmobile, could hold its head and front legs, and the keeper could sit on the back legs to prevent her from struggling and falling along the way. We finally left for a place more suitable to its survival, but above all, far from the damn hole. Once the Beauty was in a safe place, the guard had to leave quickly to close the gatehouse. So I carried in my arms one last time the doe which was shivering just like me to install it as best I could, with its legs spread between the branches of an alder tree to keep it in balance, the body pointed in the direction of the group of deer observed earlier, and left wishing him luck. But since we were now very intimate, she turned her head towards me and began to roar, her eyes never taking off from me, her disoriented and oceanic black pearls, until I disappeared. Turning from time to time, I noticed that she remained motionless, her head still turned towards me, seeking her breath through chills and spasms. I wasn't really sure about anything. GOOD LUCK BAMBINETTE! The next morning, despite a night of fever and cough, too impatient to know the outcome of Bambinette's rescue, as the sun was shining, I decided to take a good dose of ibuprofen and cough syrup, without forgetting several packets of Kleenex, to go see on the spot what had happened to the Beauty. What a happy surprise for me to note that the idea of leaving the doe in full view of the group observed previously was judicious, because back on the spot I could very well distinguish the traces of the individuals who heard it and came to it to help. At first by warming her by their gathering and then, probably also, by licking her and encouraging her in their own way with good words like… “don't let go of Bambinette, you still have many good years ahead of you… and this guy you met, you are going to introduce him to us eh!… ”. Anyway, I could also make out where she had collapsed the first time, then stood up to collapse a second time, exhausted from those few steps equivalent to miles in her condition. A recess in the snow of two silhouettes side by side. It could therefore be deduced that a second individual laid down beside her to warm her. Thereafter, I followed the clear tracks in the snow for a good hour to finally (without lying) find it in the company of its congeners. I stopped about ten meters to observe them. Once she saw me, quietly, she approached me just two meters away, (I could see on the inside of his front legs two red sores with a bit of hair missing) from there she sniffed the air, staring at me for a moment and then returned to join the group. WOW! What an intense moment! Finally, in my case, at the height of this adventure, the rescue of the day before, a sleepless night of fever and this day looking for the survivor, I was so exhausted and feverish, unable to walk ten steps without gasping for breath, I had to face the obvious and go to the hospital where I was diagnosed not with a cold or a bronchitis, but rather a severe pneumonia. OUPSS! A bad for a good we will say. Despite “everything”… all's well that ends well! Sometime later, I saw again the snowshoe hiker who had watched me without my knowing throughout the adventure. He asked me about my health, then continued on, because he had a lot to say about what had gone through his mind about the fact that he thought he witnessed poaching. I saw it all, he told me, and I told it to ... and to ... Then he said BRAVO! |
 SOS-BAMBYNETTE RESCUE |
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| Philip P | 13-Jan-2022 13:45 | |