Warmth is evasive in Chicago, a city that carries a sharp chill eight to nine months a year. When it gets warm, the masses flock to open water. That includes this deer, who spent Tuesday morning taking a long, leisurely 45-minute swim through Lake Michigan.
Pretty cool, but also—is that thing going to drown?
Chicago resident CJ Danner captured footage of the deer’s dip, following it down the shoreline alongside a group of concerned citizens, including a local police officer, all of whom were prepared to dive in and save it should the deer start sinking.
But, according to Seth Magle, director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo, “Most deer species are strong swimmers.” The deer eventually found its way to a rocky outcrop, but was having a tough time navigating the terrain. That’s when a gaggle of geese hit the scene, presumably telling the deer to shit or get off the pot.
“They kept squawking at it and scaring it or encouraging it—I’m not sure one way or the other,” Danner told WGN. “If it wasn’t for [the geese] I don’t know if the deer would have made it up the bank. It’s like nature working together.”
Nature can be really nice when it’s not trying to kill you.