Post by Woody Williams on Dec 2, 2005 4:28:23 GMT -5
Deer attacks: Nature, civilization lock horns
By Martin Kasindorf, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — Deer are charging at people, causing injury and even death from thrusting antlers and pummeling hooves.
A deer is cornered after being shot with tranquilizers in a bank in October.
As a nature story, the one that game wardens are telling about attack deer this fall sounds as hard to believe as the tale of the "killer rabbit" that menaced President Jimmy Carter on a fishing trip in 1979. But wildlife officials warn that getting close to deer is not a game. In a rash of incidents since September, aggressive deer have caused one death and several serious injuries.
"People think of deer as Bambi, cute and cuddly, but they can be extremely dangerous in certain circumstances," says Steve Martarano, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game. Some instances of what happens when deer and people get too close:
• Ron Dudek, 73, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., died Oct. 17 of complications from antler wounds inflicted to his face by a male deer that Dudek encountered when he went to pick tomatoes in his backyard garden. It was the nation's second deer-assault death in two years: Donald Sellers, 79, was fatally gored and mauled by his pet buck in Gilbertown, Ala., in 2003.
• Karen Morris, 56, of Clearlake, Calif., was hospitalized for 12 days with head injuries in an attack by a young buck Nov. 17 outside her home. The horns bruised Clifford Morris, 68, when he came to his wife's aid.
• In Covelo, Calif., on Sept. 29, Arnold and Jeannine Bloom returned to their pickup after watering a friend's vegetable garden. A small buck ran up to the truck and knocked the man on his back, California Department of Fish and Game warden Rusty Boccaleoni says. When Jeannine Bloom swung at the animal with a piece of firewood, it turned upon her and ripped a hole in her arm. The next day, Boccaleoni shot and killed the animal.
• Game wardens shot five bucks on the streets of Helena, Mont., after the deer threatened staffers at a day care center and a teenager delivering newspapers.
Kurt VerCauteren, a biologist at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colo., blames most of the trouble on the edginess of male deer during the fall mating season. And as suburban homes encroach on deer habitat, deer that are fed by admiring humans — or that browse on lawns and garden vegetables — lose their natural fear of people, VerCauteren says.
In mating season, bucks sometimes wander into big-city downtowns and get into trouble. Arriving for work at the Minnesota state Capitol on Nov. 3, Gov. Tim Pawlenty heard shattering glass and was nearly bowled over in the parking lot by a buck bounding away from two windows it had broken. The California Department of Fish and Game in October issued a reminder not to feed deer — it is a misdemeanor here — and to "deer-proof" property. Aside from maintaining fences, homeowners can spray plants with deer repellent, VerCauteren says.
The mating season for much of the country ended in November but extends to January in Florida. Problems could crop up again in spring, when does are protecting fawns, says Craig Stowers, coordinator of the California state deer program.
Rambunctious deer don't always observe the biological clock. In August 2004, out of the mating season, a buck pummeled Gene Novikoff, 80, near Cameron, Mont. Novikoff suffered a broken rib. "He looked like he was in a bar fight," says warden Marc Glines of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Glines, who killed the deer, says it was "in need of psychoanalysis."
The family of California deer victims Karen and Clifford Morris is reacting good-naturedly to ribbing from incredulous neighbors. "It puts a whole new spin on (the country song) Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," says Tammy Black, the couple's daughter.
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-01-deer-attacks_x.htm
By Martin Kasindorf, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — Deer are charging at people, causing injury and even death from thrusting antlers and pummeling hooves.
A deer is cornered after being shot with tranquilizers in a bank in October.
As a nature story, the one that game wardens are telling about attack deer this fall sounds as hard to believe as the tale of the "killer rabbit" that menaced President Jimmy Carter on a fishing trip in 1979. But wildlife officials warn that getting close to deer is not a game. In a rash of incidents since September, aggressive deer have caused one death and several serious injuries.
"People think of deer as Bambi, cute and cuddly, but they can be extremely dangerous in certain circumstances," says Steve Martarano, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game. Some instances of what happens when deer and people get too close:
• Ron Dudek, 73, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., died Oct. 17 of complications from antler wounds inflicted to his face by a male deer that Dudek encountered when he went to pick tomatoes in his backyard garden. It was the nation's second deer-assault death in two years: Donald Sellers, 79, was fatally gored and mauled by his pet buck in Gilbertown, Ala., in 2003.
• Karen Morris, 56, of Clearlake, Calif., was hospitalized for 12 days with head injuries in an attack by a young buck Nov. 17 outside her home. The horns bruised Clifford Morris, 68, when he came to his wife's aid.
• In Covelo, Calif., on Sept. 29, Arnold and Jeannine Bloom returned to their pickup after watering a friend's vegetable garden. A small buck ran up to the truck and knocked the man on his back, California Department of Fish and Game warden Rusty Boccaleoni says. When Jeannine Bloom swung at the animal with a piece of firewood, it turned upon her and ripped a hole in her arm. The next day, Boccaleoni shot and killed the animal.
• Game wardens shot five bucks on the streets of Helena, Mont., after the deer threatened staffers at a day care center and a teenager delivering newspapers.
Kurt VerCauteren, a biologist at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colo., blames most of the trouble on the edginess of male deer during the fall mating season. And as suburban homes encroach on deer habitat, deer that are fed by admiring humans — or that browse on lawns and garden vegetables — lose their natural fear of people, VerCauteren says.
In mating season, bucks sometimes wander into big-city downtowns and get into trouble. Arriving for work at the Minnesota state Capitol on Nov. 3, Gov. Tim Pawlenty heard shattering glass and was nearly bowled over in the parking lot by a buck bounding away from two windows it had broken. The California Department of Fish and Game in October issued a reminder not to feed deer — it is a misdemeanor here — and to "deer-proof" property. Aside from maintaining fences, homeowners can spray plants with deer repellent, VerCauteren says.
The mating season for much of the country ended in November but extends to January in Florida. Problems could crop up again in spring, when does are protecting fawns, says Craig Stowers, coordinator of the California state deer program.
Rambunctious deer don't always observe the biological clock. In August 2004, out of the mating season, a buck pummeled Gene Novikoff, 80, near Cameron, Mont. Novikoff suffered a broken rib. "He looked like he was in a bar fight," says warden Marc Glines of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Glines, who killed the deer, says it was "in need of psychoanalysis."
The family of California deer victims Karen and Clifford Morris is reacting good-naturedly to ribbing from incredulous neighbors. "It puts a whole new spin on (the country song) Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," says Tammy Black, the couple's daughter.
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-01-deer-attacks_x.htm