Sally had been up at the post office and the community centre making social and picking up a few dozen eggs at the same time.  It was about 2:00 pm on Wednesday as she headed home in her little Miata-like speed boat, just a’zipping through the cold December air. Good day to be out and about!

Up ahead she saw what looked like the typical winter high-tide generated floating flotsam or jetsam.  Or log.  It had branches sticking out. “Probably a natural deadfall”, she thought as she altered course to pass safely by.

But this piece seemed to be moving against the current.  In fact, this ‘deadfall’ seemed to be making headway against the wind and the current.  Sal slowed the boat and looked closer.

It was a deer.  The 3-point buck had disembarked from the neighbouring island and had been traversing the channel between – not very quickly – and was making the last few hundred feet to our island shore when Sal hove into view.  The buck seemed to pick up a bit of speed as Sal got closer.  Not easy when you are swimming with hooves and skinny legs, I am sure.

Given the distance and the estimated speed, she guessed that he had likely been swimming for about an hour.

Sal stopped the boat so as to relieve the poor animal of any unnecessary stress and sat there watching as he continued swimming.  He seemed to sense he had a bit more time, after all, and moved with calm deliberation a bit down the coast to find a more accessible landing.  Finding the right depth and lunging out of the water, Buck emerged onto the beach, looked at Sal one last time and then headed inland to try to add to the local gene pool.

Sal restarted her outboard, and resumed her journey home. She arrived home with a wide grin across her face and a brief but ‘fun’ story to tell about passing the buck.

December.  Just getting mail.  Nice to get out and about.