'Scared and exhausted': Baby deer find safe harbor on NC family's fishing trip

GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A North Carolina family rescued two “scared” and “exhausted” tiny fawns after the young deer swam toward their fishing boat in Guilford County.

Footage filmed by Aaron James shows the fawns paddling through the water before being brought aboard the boat.

“They were so scared and just exhausted,” he told Storyful.

Additional clips show one of the fawns drinking from a bottle and being welcomed by the family’s golden retrievers.

James said he was fishing with his children when they spotted the fawns walking along the bank. After observing them from a distance for a few minutes, they were stunned when the animals began swimming toward the boat.

James said he was “in shock” that the young deer appeared to trust humans enough to approach them. Unsure whether the fawns had been abandoned or their mother had died, he said his family decided to give them “a fighting chance at survival.”

James said one of the fawns had already started foraging on its own and would be free to return to the wild when ready.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe it,” he wrote on social media.