Deer swims to Prince Edward Island before being hit by transport truck

Diane Griffin was about to cross the Confederation Bridge en route to New Brunswick on Tuesday when she stopped on the side of the road to take a phone call.

Then, as she looked out her windshield, she thought she saw a white-tailed deer approaching the bank and grazing in the grass.

Could it be? Deer are not native to PEI.

How did he get here? Should she hang up and call the authorities?

The plot then turned to shock.

« All of a sudden, right in front of me, he rushed across the road onto the curb and a big transfer truck came off the bridge and just, scorched. The poor deer was killed on the cut. »

Officials from the PEI Department of Fish and Wildlife believe that deer were the first to successfully swim across the Northumberland Strait.

« There are no known white-tailed deer on Prince Edward Island, but they are common in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, » the department said in an email to CBC.

« We sometimes picked up dead deer on the beaches of the South Shore that were presumed drowned. »

The deer was brought to the Atlantic Veterinary College. Due to the animal’s condition after the collision, little information could be obtained, but officials believe the deer was only on Prince Edward Island shortly before the crash. to be killed.

Griffin, a retired senator from PEI, said the incident “kept me awake” for the rest of her trip.

« We’re not used to seeing them. It’s when we cross over from the side of the Confederation Bridge to the New Brunswick side that most of us start to be more cautious about s ‘worry about deer or moose,’ she said.

« So it was very intriguing to see the deer here to begin with, but to see him come in so suddenly was a pretty powerful thing that happened. »