Photographer captures images of deer swimming the Mississippi River

Local nature photographer Jennifer Davis filmed a rarely seen occurrence early Saturday morning in Cape Girardeau -- about a dozen deer swimming across the Mississippi River.

She said she went down to the Cape Rock Drive area as she normally does, hoping for landscape shots.

"I thought that there would be a lot of smoke on the waters right there like there usually is," she said. "I started walking around the track around the bend where the bluffs are, and these deer came out, went across the railroad tracks and then ... they disappeared."

She photographed them walking across the railroad tracks, then went for a closer look.

"I just noticed them getting into the water, and I got it on video," she said.

This screen capture of video shows the deer swimming across the Mississippi River on Saturday morning. (Screen capture of Facebook video)

She sat and watched as they entered the water, swam upstream a bit, then floated with the current to the Illinois bank.

"It was weird," Davis said. "They knew what they were doing. ... They ended up at the same spot [on the opposite bank]."

She said the sight was oddly moving.

"I just sat and watched it and sobbed. It was amazing," she said. "It was unbelievable."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

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