The floods in Louisiana are devastating, causing widespread destruction and the loss of countless homes. And it's not just human homes — animals, too, both wild and domestic, are losing their homes to the floodwaters.
But amid all this chaos, there are also people from all walks of life rising to the occasion and rescuing their neighbors, human and non-human alike, like the rescuers who dove in to pull horses to safety.
Pharmacist and amateur photographer Scott Black has seen all of this firsthand. He lives and works about a half-hour's drive from Baton Rouge, and has seen the toll the flooding has taken on his community.
One day, he spent 14 hours holed up in his office because the water had cut off his route home.
When he was finally able to leave, a truck pulled into the parking lot, and inside was someone Black never expected to see, but that gave him a sense of hope and peace, even in the middle of one of the worst floodings in the country.
But it wasn't the driver, who Black knew casually from the community, or even his human passenger. It was the tiny fawn on the passenger's lap, sitting snuggled into some towels after being pulled from the water.
And luckily for us, Black had his camera.
[H/T: The Dodo]
When pharmacist and amateur photographer Scott Black was finally able to leave work after 14 hours of being stranded at the office by the waters, he came outside to a strange site.
In a pickup truck in the parking lot, two men, one of whom Black knew in passing, were cradling this tiny fawn.
The men had been out surveying the roads when someone in a boat approached, holding this baby fawn.
The person in the boat said they'd pulled the fawn from the water, but couldn't keep it in the boat as they had to go back for more rescues. The fawn was handed off to the two men in the truck.
"It was amazing to see this tiny fawn just lying in someone's lap," Black says, and he started taking photos.
And it seems like the fawn, exhausted as it was, didn't mind striking a few poses.
In the past weeks of these floods, Black says that he wishes he'd been able to capture more moments like this, of communities coming together to help one another, as well as pets, farm animals, and wild animals.
"I've seen so many images of disaster and of rescues of humans and other animals alike," he says. "I would love to have captured each and every one on camera just to let people see what has happened here."
And seeing this rescued baby had an effect on Black, too.
"It had been a log day and I had family, friends, and employees that had been flooded, so the mood was somber at best," he says, "but seeing that fawn lying there was such a sign of peace and hope."
Black's photography captures the stunning, if sometimes deadly, natural landscape of Louisiana.
Black also says that he ran into the driver of the pickup truck again, who reported that the baby deer had been taken to a local farm, where it was being bottle-fed and was doing well.
As for the mysterious person in the boat who handed off the fawn to the men in the truck, we may never know who they were. But like countless others, they're working to make a difference, even in these trying times.
You can see more of Black's photography on Facebook, and you can also donate to help animals who have lost their homes due to flooding on GoFundMe.
Please SHARE if you're thankful this sweet fawn was rescued!
