Deer runs downriver to edge of a 48-foot waterfall, then…surprise!
A deer appeared to be frantically running down the Tahquamenon River toward a waterfall, and then the unexpected occurred. "I cannot (...)
A deer appeared to be frantically running down the Tahquamenon River in Luce County, Michigan, and was heading for disaster. Looming large ahead was Tahquamenon Falls and its approximate 48-foot drop.
Cassidy Hasek saw the deer running toward a viewing platform “and we all thought it was so cute, so I started recording,” Hasek told ViralHog. “Then I realized the deer wasn’t going to stop and it was approaching the waterfall.”
What happened next was quite a surprise.
As you can see in the video captured earlier this month, the deer slowed at the edge of the waterfall as if trying to put on the brakes, but it was too late. The current carried the animal over the falls, creating angst among the tourists. Several seconds passed, with most of them thinking the worst.
“I thought it was dead until a few minutes later when I saw it swimming again!” Hasek told ViralHog.
“A big question I had is, what was it running from and did it end up okay and survive?” Hasek said.
As it approached shore near the end of the video, the deer appeared to have difficulty negotiating the rocky bottom, prompting it to continue swimming downriver. From there, who knows what could have happened to it?
Also on FTW Outdoors: Bystander’s quick thinking saves deer from death in the nick of time
One comment can be heard near the end of the video saying, “I cannot believe that.”
To see it pop up and swimming was a bit unbelievable, considering Tahquamenon Falls is said to be the third-most voluminous vertical waterfall east of the Mississippi River after Niagara Falls and Cohoes Falls.
Photo courtesy of ViralHog.