Danny is a deer. He’s a skippy-wippy deer. Danny is a very doting deer. He loves his family and friends and sees only the good in all of them. Danny loves grazing the grasslands where he lives. He has a very healthy appetite. As well as grass, he’ll eat bark, twigs, berries and shoots.
Danny has a best friend, Delia. Delia is a deer too. Danny and Delia often have fun skipping around the meadows where they live. When they jump into the air at the same time it looks just like they are on springs! And it has a funny name. It’s called pronking! It makes all the other animals around laugh a lot.
In the winter, Danny and his family rest sheltered away from the harsh weather. They find a safe place, against a log or rock, and cuddle up to sleep. They make sure their bedding place is near water, as they need to drink every day. So often they sleep near a river.
One rainy morning, Danny wakes up thirsty and asks his parents if he can go to the river for a drink.
“Yes, but please make sure you go with your friends and are really careful,” Danny’s dad tells him.
“We’ll be fine, Dad,” Danny says. “We go every day.”
“I know,” says his Dad, “but it’s more risky at the moment.”
“Why’s that?” asks Danny.
“Because we’ve been getting more storms. The rain makes the water in the river rise. Its banks can burst, and that causes flooding.”
“Why are we getting more storms?” Danny asks, wanting to understand the reason.
“It’s mostly because the planet is heating up a bit,” his dad explains. “More water is evaporating into the air from land, rivers and oceans because of this. When the air is holding more moisture, it needs to go somewhere. So it rains more heavily.”
“Thanks Dad,” says Danny, because he knows his dad wants to take care of him. “I promise we’ll be careful.”
When Danny meets Delia, they skip through the meadows towards the river. They find their hooves are splashing through puddles of water. So they slow down and look ahead. They can see that the water level in the river is really high. It’s almost at the upper edge of the river bank.
As they get closer, Danny and Delia hear noises coming from the river. There are barks and shrieks. The splashing paws of a small dog suddenly sweep into view. The fast moving water carries the dog straight towards the river bank and safety.
Danny remembers what his father said about being careful. But he dotes on everyone, so he can’t bear to think of another animal in trouble.
He turns quickly to Delia. “The river is flooding. We have to help. Come on!”
There isn’t much time to think. Danny sees that that river has already covered the bushes on the riverbank. Soon the water will have covered the lower branches of the trees too. There will be nothing to stop other animals being swept away in the river swell.
Some of Danny’s male deer friends skip up behind and around him to see what is happening. It is almost like he is swimming in a sea of antlers! In a second, this gives him an idea.
“We need to get to the edge of the riverbank. Be very careful you don’t get caught in the water,” he warns his friends. “We can lean our heads over and use our antlers so the animals in danger have something to hold on to. Then we can pull them to safety.”
“That’s a great idea!” says Delia. “I don’t have antlers but I can make sure the animals know you’re there.”
The other deer are keen to help, so they line up along the riverbank. They lean forward so their antlers are just over the top of the water. They can see lots of animals in the water now. There are moles, otters and badgers, who usually live on the riverbank. They’re all frightened at being caught in the fast-flowing river.
“Over here! Grab on!” Delia cries out to them.
The animals hear her shouts and reach out with their little paws to try and catch on to the deers’ antlers. Sometimes, two or even three animals grab on to one set of antlers.
“Hold on tight now!” shouts Danny, as the deer all lift up their heads and slowly walk backwards. Once they are safely away from the riverbank, they lean over to place the tired little animals on the ground. After a while, there are no more animals left in the river. They have all been pulled to safety.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” the animals repeat, one after another. They are so relieved to be safe. They run well away from the river, back through the meadow. They want to find a place to shelter from the flooding.
“We’re so happy we could help!” Danny calls out to them. He and the other deer are overjoyed. They’ve used their heads, quite literally, to fight the risk caused to the other animals by flooding.
Questions for discussion
What causes flooding?
What kinds of danger and damage can flooding cause?
How could you safely help an animal, or a person, who is caught in a flood?