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Oh deer! McLean County parks crews rescue doe that fell through the ice at Evergreen Lake

Female deer laying on a snowy ground under several winter coats as two men tend to her
Facebook/McLean County Parks and Recreation
McLean County Parks and Recreation staff placed coats on a deer they had rescued from the ice waters of Evergreen Lake on Tuesday morning.

Hunters harvested more than 50,000 deer in the first half of the firearm deer season this year. The second weekend for deer hunting by firearm began Thursday.

But in McLean County, parks crews are taking a different approach with their forest friends.

They took time to save a deer that had fallen through the ice at Evergreen Lake north of Hudson on a frigid Tuesday morning.

Maintenance supervisor for the McLean County Parks and Recreation Department, Brett Murphy, said he and his coworkers were in the shop at Comlara Park when the department was informed of a deer that was swimming in circles in the icy lake.

“It just couldn’t break the ice any further, so it was just trapped,” Murphy said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.

Murphy said he then put on waders to go into the waist-high water and used a shovel to carve out a 30-foot path through the half-inch thick ice to get to the deer that he said was nearly frozen and frightened.

“I couldn’t lift her any further, so luckily the two other guys were there," Murphy said. "I was telling the doe 'These guys are here to help you too. We’re all trying to help you honey.'"

Murphy said he and coworkers Tony Starkey and Dave Grizzle helped bring the deer to shore then placed their coats on the doe to help her warm up.

Murphy said they monitored the deer periodically throughout the day. It appears the deer returned to the woods by late afternoon.

Murphy said he and his coworkers are all hunters, so he considered that irony as this episode played out.

“We did joke around about putting a collar and some bells on her,” he quipped. “My group and I we have a lot of respect for our surroundings and natural resources. These deer, they are not our pets, but we do like to think that we take care of them."

The county has reported a concerning increase in white-tail deer on park grounds.

“The excess number of deer will continue to increase, possibl[y] dramatically, without active management,” the county’s parks website said.

Murphy added Comlara Park's deer management program only allows for harvesting female deer.

Murphy said parks staff is occasionally called upon to rescue wildlife, such as the time they came upon an injured turkey vulture on the side of the road earlier this year. The bird was taken to an animal clinic. He said they also do muskie rescue with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources when the fish go over the spillway at the Evergreen Lake dam.

Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.