DULUTH, Minn., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The deer hunter became the deer savior when Dale Ebel rescued a 300-pound whitetail from the icy waters of the Duluth, Minn., harbor.

Ebel, a state conservation officer, said he just couldn't stand to see such a magnificent animal die that way, the Duluth News Tribune reported.

It was not clear how the big buck fell into the water but the unstable ice and 5-foot dock walls around the slip left made it difficult for the animal to escape.

"I got the call at about 9 a.m., and by the time I got down there, he was already exhausted. ... So I lassoed an antler and hung on to him until I got some help. I don't think he could have made it much longer," Ebel said.

"We didn't want to see this big guy go down like that. He's too impressive of an animal. He deserved another chance."

Ebel eventually called a Duluth Zoo veterinarian who sedated the buck. Later, with help from the U.S. Coast Guard, Ebel pulled the deer to shore.

"I think he's just too exhausted. I think he'll make it if people leave him alone. He just needs to regain his strength," Ebel said.

Woman falls into 5-foot sinkhole

DETROIT, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A woman walking backward while talking to a man fell into a 5-foot deep sinkhole in the middle of a street in a Detroit suburb.

Police said the man tried to warn her, but it was too late, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The woman was treated for minor scrapes and bruises.

The sinkhole had opened up sometime overnight, apparently caused by water main rupture last week.

Manatees rescued from storm drain

MIAMI, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- It took 15 workers and two construction cranes five hours to rescue a manatee mom and her male offspring from a parking lot storm drain.

They were discovered Monday afternoon by Cynthia Herndon, who was walking to her car from her job at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center when she heard the two animals, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.

She peered in the manhole grate and saw them. Hoping they would be freed by high tide, she went home. But the next morning when she returned they were still there, and she called authorities.

Five professional animal care specialists, 10 volunteers and the cranes set to work. The 1,000-pound female and her 400-pound offspring were finally lifted free of the 3 1/2-foot drain Tuesday afternoon.

Maya Menchaca, a veterinarian with the Miami Seaquarium, said they were both in good condition.

"We calculated that they would've made it another couple of days, but without food they would've died a slow death," she said.

Scottish drinkers fear barley shortage

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- If Scottish tipplers don't want a shortage of scotch and beer, distillers and brewers will have to pay more for specialty barley, a farmers' union is warning.

The issue of the price of malting barley has been raised every year for the past several, but the president of the National Farmers Union Scotland, John Kinnaird told The Scotsman this year is it.

Beginning in January, farmers will get a single annual support payment instead of a range of crop and livestock production subsidies. Kinnaird said if such a specialty crop as malting barley doesn't earn a decent premium, growers will simply drop it.

The average cost of production has been estimated at $140 per ton, although a few years ago the NFU set a "$170 a ton or bust" target, saying such a price level only contributed a few cents to the cost of a bottle of whisky.

"At this stage I'm unlikely to sow malting barley next spring, and that will be a first," Kinnaird said.