Cape Cod: Articles: Nature -- post an article

Fish Out Of Water

Fishermen of Cape Cod occasionally bring in to port more than the fish in their holds. In the fall of 1963, the dragger Frances Elizabeth, of Provincetown, reached port with a deer she had “caught” swimming in the sea three miles off Race Point. At that time, the animal was heading toward Plymouth and “going strong.”

Another old fisherman friend of mine, who passed away a few years ago, was working on an offshore lobster boat in the 1970’s when on the way out to the fishing grounds, they “caught” a deer off Monomoy. There have also been reports of mature bucks swimming across the Cape Cod Canal. You wouldn’t think so, but apparently deer are good swimmers.

Years ago, I was on a crew building a barn on Cuttyhunk Island where deer are quite plentiful. I asked one of the natives about the deer hunting there, and how it must be a joke since the island is so small. He said that the joke was on the deer hunters because after the first shot is fired, the deer all swim to a neighboring island where there is no hunting allowed.

Last spring a friend of mine was hauling sea bass pots with his father south of Great Island, off Hyannis, when they saw something strange in the waves. Upon closer inspection they spotted a coyote swimming south toward Nantucket. They tried to “steer” it north back toward Hyannis, but the coyote held his Nantucket bound course to the south’ard. Coyotes are quite resilient, but I doubt that one made it.

• tell-a-friend • link to this post •