When a buck broke through ice and was spotted floundering in Horseshoe Cove off Nassau Point in Cutchogue on Friday, three law enforcement officers wasted no time in commandeering a rowboat, breaking open a channel and pulling the stunned animal safely to shore.
Tom and Marian Cornwell spotted the deer about 2:30 p.m. Friday, 200 feet from the end of their dock "with nothing but ice between it and the shore," said Mr. Cornwell.
"We have a real deer problem and we use stuff to keep them off our property, but that's no way for a deer to die," he added.
When town police officer Bob Bopp, bay constable Don Dzenkowski and state DEC officer Tom Gadomski arrived, they borrowed a neighbor's 14-foot aluminum boat and secured ropes to the stern. Officers Dzenkowski and Gadomski used a pitchfork, a pick and a shovel to break through ice that was an inch or so thick and made their way out to the animal, said Mr. Cornwell. After they took hold of the deer, he and Officer Bopp pulled the boat back to shore.
The entire rescue took about 20 minutes.
"These guys were absolutely incredible," Mr. Cornwell said. "The deer, as you might well expect, was really in shock."
They placed the animal in a section of beach grass and covered it with a blanket. Mr. Cornwell said it stayed there for about two hours and then stood in place for at least another few hours.
That there was no sign of the deer by Saturday led rescuers to believe it survived the icy ordeal.
tkelly@timesreview.com