Dave Singer was fishing on the West Branch of Tunkhannock Creek when he heard a splash.
But it wasn’t a trout smacking the surface.
Singer was fishing from a raft by himself on Aug. 17 near Nicholson when he witnessed an encounter between predator and prey.
Before then, the excursion was relatively peaceful as Singer paddled around a bend and saw a group of deer standing in the creek. While he admired the scene, Singer heard something crashing through the woods toward the creek.
“A deer jumped into the water and just as quickly a coyote jumped on its back and bit it,” Singer said. “The deer made a noise, like it yelled, and got away.”
But it didn’t end there.
The deer was about 20 feet from Singer and began swimming toward him, with the coyote in hot pursuit. As the deer and coyote continued to swim closer, Singer frantically paddled backwards not knowing what the canine would do.
“They were moving at me fast and I put everything I had into it just to get back and create some space,” he said.
Suddenly, the deer turned and began swimming back to shore and Singer pulled out his phone to record the encounter.
“At no point did that coyote let off that deer. He wasn’t giving up,” Singer said. “It swam right behind the deer and chased it back into the woods, and a few moments later I heard another cry. I imagine it got the deer.”
As for the group of deer that were standing in the water, Singer said they all scattered except for one.
“It stayed right in the stream. I think it was as shocked as I was,” he said. “My heart was racing.”
Most of the people that have seen the video told Singer he should’ve shot the coyote, but everything happened too quickly, he said.
“It was just a tense situation when they swam within 10 feet of me.”
Even though Singer doesn’t hunt, he said he’s well aware of the impact that coyotes can have on deer. And now, he’s seen it firsthand.
“I’ve seen coyotes in the woods before, but never anything like this. I was hoping it would let the deer alone when it saw me, but it didn’t’ seem to care,” Singer said. “It was determined to get that deer.”
Wow….!!!!!!!