{"id":1331,"date":"2023-12-25T00:54:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-25T00:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2023-12-25T00:54:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T00:54:13","slug":"families-spend-their-christmas-eve-rescuing-elk-from-freezing-cold-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=1331","title":{"rendered":"Families spend their Christmas Eve rescuing elk from freezing cold river"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Rylee Stuart\u2019s husband Jeff and his brother went out hunting for coyotes on Christmas Eve in 2021 they saw something they\u2019d never seen before.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As they approached an icy Kettle River in northeast Washington they saw elk in the river.<\/p>\n

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Elk are one of the largest species of deer and native to\u00a0<\/strong>North America and in the high mountains of Central Asia.<\/p>\n

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I seriously can not thank Jeff Stuart and Jordan Fish enough for finding the elk in the river yesterday not a single one\u2026<\/p>\n

Posted by\u00a0Rylee Stuart<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Saturday, December 25, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Game officials and state troopers were alerted but didn\u2019t respond so the two men returned home to get kayaks and rallied local support to help pull the elk to safety \u2013 not an easy task.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne calf was already deceased before we started. Our best guess was that they had been there all night drowning, kicking each other, getting huge wounds from the ice,\u201d\u00a0Rylee Stuart wrote on Facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cUpon the calves reaching the bank 3 more died. It was too much for their little bodies,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The animals had been in the water for hours and were scared and cold.<\/p>\n

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