A man ice skating on a partially frozen lake in Ontario during his lunch break dragged three stranded deer to safety.

Ryan Peterson said rescuing the deer was a race against time because there was a possibility the animals could fall through the thin ice or become prey for hungry wolves.    

'I went back to work and grabbed some rope. The ice was still too thin for any kind of vehicle, so skating was the only option,' Peterson told Storyful.

While on his skates, Peterson deftly wrapped rope around each of the deer, pulling them to the edge of the ice at Lake of the Woods near Kenora.