Doe and fawn make swimming pool mistake

SAANICH, British Columbia, July 15 (UPI) -- Trying to walk on a plastic swimming pool cover gave a doe and her fawn on Canada's Vancouver Island a wet and near-fatal experience.

Homeowner Jim Smith called for animal rescue help Tuesday when he spotted the two deer thrashing around in his pool with the plastic solar heating cover in disarray in the town of Saanich, the Victoria Times-Colonist reported.

While waiting for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals staff to arrive, Smith fashioned a lasso out of a garden hose and managed to loop it around the doe's neck, the report said.

The fawn managed to find the shallow end and climb out, but its mother was in distress when SPCA employee Donna Wilson arrived.

"She was panicking because the hose was tightening around her neck," Wilson said. "At one point, I thought, 'This deer is going to choke and drown,' so I jumped in."

Wilson said she was able to loosen the hose and then stood still while the deer raced to the shallow end.

Still, it was unable to climb out, so Wilson said she started pushing the deer's hind end up and out, and both doe and fawn bolted into nearby woods, the report said.