Preying coyotes spot fawn stuck on cliff in Oregon. Watch it get rescued just in time
Hungry coyotes had their eyes on a helpless fawn that was stuck on a cliff along a river in Oregon.
But a deputy and a Marine cadet showed up at the right time and helped the young deer not become a snack.
On June 9, Marine Deputy Dennis Greiner and Marine Cadet Brodie Cloud set out on the Nehalem River to retrieve a canoe, the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office said.
The canoe had been left on the river since June 6 when a 49-year-old man was thrown from it and died, McClatchy News reported.
Greiner and Cloud saw two coyotes hanging out on the opposite side of the river looking at something on a cliff.
They realized the animals were interested in a fawn.
The deer had fallen near the river’s edge onto a small cliff and couldn’t get back to its mom, deputies said.
A 50-second video shows Cloud trek up the edge of the river to reach the deer.
He picks the animal up as Greiner says, “Do you think you can throw it from there? I’d just launch it up.”
Cloud is then seen tossing the animal onto the ledge where it runs back to its mom.
“Thankfully, Cadet Cloud didn’t ‘Launch it’ as suggested by Deputy Greiner in the video,” authorities said in the post.
Deputies said they typically don’t recommend reuniting a separated fawn with its mom, because the adult deer may reject the animal.
However, “it was determined that this minimal contact was worth the risk. The momma deer welcomed the fawn back and led it away from the area,” deputies said in the post.
Cloud is also an “avid hunter” who is familiar with animals.
The Nehalem River is about 120 miles long and runs through northwestern Oregon.
‘Ambitious’ visitor tries saving lonely baby deer, Georgia park says. That’s a problem
Deer charges pregnant woman trying to stop it from stomping dogs, Colorado officials say
Elk charges 8-year-old girl riding bicycle, stomps on her, Colorado officials say
