A deer had somehow curled into the lake ice near the shore and was being covered by the howling snowstorm coming across the big lake. At first it looked like a snowy piece of wood. A coyote walking by turned and noticed it, then a head lifted up , and I realized it was a deer. A scream from the deck frightened the coyote. Fierce weather coming in, sub-zero temperatures, high winds. A call to a special and valiant neighbor brought him in his wet suit and his friends. Neighbors arrived, a life-line was put together, he crawled out on the ice, the line separated, was tied again, an extension ladder to lay on the ice was found. The crawl to the deer, who lifted her front quarters and tried to pull away, but could not, was precarious because of water under the thick slushy ice (though shallow). This photo catches him actually talking to the deer to calm her, this is a moment of communication as she turns to listen to him. The noose was finally placed around her neck, the guys pushed and pulled her in, her body and head covered with clotted ice hunks. We stood there, stunned. She finally staggered to her feet, fell on the ice, then managed to get her bearings and ran clumsily up the beach and into the woods.

– Kathie Snedeker, Gills Pier, MI