Cannonballing into a swimming pool is usually an act of joy, not an act of defense.
But when you are out in the wild, you have to be ready to try anything at the drop of the hat, especially if your life is depending on it.
That’s why this deer decided to (or accidentally) cannonball into a California swimming pool to get away from a mountain lion that was right on its tail. The method actually proved to be pretty successful, at least for a short period of time.
The homeowners were fast asleep when all of this occurred in their swimming pool, and only thought to check the security cameras they had set up when they noticed that many of their backyard items around their pool were out of place.
When they checked the tape, they were startled to see a moment straight out of National Geographic playing out right in their backyard swimming pool, and could barely believe that the mess was caused by a deer and mountain lion locked in a battle of life and death.
Rachel Long, the homeowner who initially checked the footage, told KCAL 9 News:
“It was pretty scary, (and) kind of creepy. I saw the video and I ran into the room and I was like ‘oh my gosh, did you see this?’ And I showed (my husband).”
In the video, the deer and big cat go crashing into the water of the pool, and the mountain lion quickly gets out, leaving the deer to continue to tread water. It looks like the deer somehow managed to outsmart the big cat, only because the mountain lion couldn’t handle the cold water, but that’s not where the story ends.
After the deer does a couple of laps, it eventually manages to climb out, though it probably wishes that it didn’t. As it turns out, the mountain lion was standing by on one of the chairs by the pool, and when the deer got out of the pool, the chase was back on.
Long added:
“It did seem like he (the mountain lion) waited. One of the chaise lounges in the backyard was quite wet, so it seems like he hung out and waited for the deer to get out of the pool.”
Additional footage from the side of the house shows the mountain lion chasing the deer once again, though both animals run out of the frame, and it becomes unclear if the deer made it out alive.
However, there weren’t any noticeable signs that the mountain lion got the deer (blood, fur, etc.), so fingers crossed the cannonballing deer made it out alive.
You can view the news story about the wild incident below:
Man, I hope the deer made it. That’s a pretty good underdog story right there, and imagine if it managed to evade the mountain lion by jumping into a pool? Just think of the story it would have to tell to all of its deer friends…
And I can’t mention or read the word “cannonball” without thinking of the iconic scene from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
They just don’t make comedies like they used to, and this scene with Will Ferrell wearing a skimpy bathing suit and shouting “cannonball” was one of the best from the all-time classic:
