On Tuesday, February 11th, we received a call at The Center about a deer on the ice on a pond in Southaven County Park in Yaphank. We sent our in-house animal rescuer, Ryan Gilmartin, to the pond, where he was met by Freddie Floridia of Strong Island. Together the pair pushed a boat onto the ice and while Frankie broke the ice with a shovel, Ryan pushed the boat forward. As they neared the deer, who had by now broken through the ice and was treading icy water, she flipped on her side and almost gave up. With a last push of adrenaline, the pair reached the doe and hauled her on to the boat. Spectators and county park police on shore helped pull the boat back in and get the deer up to the waiting van to bring her back to The Center in Hampton Bays. Back at The Center the deer was treated slowly and carefully for hypothermia. She was so wet and cold, no one realized she was a Sika Deer, an Asian breed, who was brought to Long Island about 100 years ago, until later that evening. (Unlike White Tailed Deer, the Sika are smaller and often darker in color with slightly longer coarser hair. They primarily live in Southaven Park). That night, as Frankie was telling her daughter about the rescue, they decided it should be named Elsa after the Frozen Princess. The story of Elsa has captured the imagination of the people of Long Island and the press, who are all looking for good news to come from the constant snow and freezing temperatures.
The hope is to release Elsa back to the park as soon as possible, once we know she is warmed up and healthy to go home. Hopefully she will have learned her lesson about walking on thin ice!
If you would like to contribute to Elsa’s rehabilitation, please click here . Any amount is appreciated, and will help feed, medicate and house Elsa and other injured animals until they are well enough to go back to nature. Thank you for caring about Elsa and her many wildlife friends.
For news coverage about Elsa’s rescue, click on links below.
