'Oh Deer'-A 911 Story...

[LillFilly]

My coworker told me this; it happened last night after I left. Note our property has some fields and brush areas and has a population of deer, foxes, wild cats, etc.

Coworker saw a truck sitting in the road. Just sitting. So he approached to see if the Driver was having vehicle issues. The Driver was standing by his truck watching a few deer in the field.

Driver: "You see that!?"
CW: "What? The deer? Yeah, we have a few around here."
Driver: "I know! I just called the police!"
CW: "Um, why did you do that?"
Driver: "Because they're dangerous! Someone could hit one, or they could crash through the mall doors!"

From what the Driver then explained, he had stopped in the road to watch the deer and had gotten out of the truck, and one had come nosing-up to him (they see a lot of people) He started shouting and banging the truck to scare it off, and it ran a little ways away, then stopped and kept doing deer stuff. Apparently, this upset him that the deer would not run away!

CW: "In the 5-years I've been there nobody's ever hit a deer and they've never crashed through our windows."
Driver: "Well, someone needs to take care of them!"

And yes, 2-police cars did show up and drove around shining their spotlights into the brush, and which point the deer ran off.

[Mr. Anubite]

The police in my area have very little to do. They would love to take a break from harrassing teenagers to go scare off some deer.

[fma_fanatic]

Yeah, we have deer near where I work and near home and while they probably wouldn't get close enough to get into the local mall, they are a problem because they run out in front of cars. It's not unheard of to see a car a few times a year parked by the side of the road after hitting a deer. For a while they had professional hunters shooting the deer to control the population.

I recall a couple of years ago on my way to work, not even a mile from our house, a deer appeared from nowhere and stopped traffic for a few minutes as it skitted on the roadway and smashed into a couple of cars before running off towards some housing projects.

[MaggieTheCat]

My husband works at a very large facility that has a huge campus -- several blocks square. Part of the campus are just open fields and they get a lot of deer that come and graze every day and are very very tame around humans. My husband has often said that if we ever run out of meat, all we'd have to do is go to where he works and club a deer upside the head. They're that tame that you can just walk up to them. Wonder what Mr. Deeraphobe would do if he ever went there.

Alternately, he could go to Wisconsin, where my parents get bears regularly in the yard. Apparently a bear actually ran into a (moving) vehicle just recently pretty near where my parents live. Totaled the truck, killed the bear, but the driver wasn't injured, at least.

[SuperRTL]

In the early morning, we get deer wandering across my apartment parking lot. Not terribly hazardous unless you're half asleep and don't notice. We worry more about the mountain lions and bears that will occasionally come down. The bears are generally easier to spot but we've been warned to not let the kiddo take the trash out by himself after dark.

[Eisa]

I would be glad if deer were all we had to worry about. :P Somehow, even though my university is most definitely IN town, we still get mountain lions roaming the hill(s) right nearby. Of course, I always ended up reading the "cougar warning" right before I had to walk home. Alone. In the dark.

[Sheldonrs]

.... Of course, I always ended up reading the "cougar warning" right before I had to walk home. Alone. In the dark.

Are you sure they meant the 4-legged variety? ;-)

[blas]

Not to defend the drooling idiot, but there was a very angry buck who charged right through the doors of a restaurant and lead a path of destruction until several brave men were able to get him into submission until the DNR could get there, recently here in good old Wisconsin.

And there was the deer who killed himself in a battle against a statue of a deer.

Very rarely, but they can get aggressive and attack. Just don't have a deer statue and don't have a Bucks game on.

[MoonCat]

I would be glad if deer were all we had to worry about. :P Somehow, even though my university is most definitely IN town, we still get mountain lions roaming the hill(s) right nearby. Of course, I always ended up reading the "cougar warning" right before I had to walk home. Alone. In the dark.

Sorry, that was me

[Mr. Anubite]

"Cougar Warning"

Are they really that dangerous if unprovoked? I mean, if you threw something at the mountain lion, that would be one thing, but is being near one enough provocation for them?

[SuperRTL]

Mountain lions will eat your pets if they're in the back yard and are known to stalk children.

[zombiequeen]

Mountain lions, like most other cats, will attack anything if they think they should. Whether it be a threat, hunger, or curiosity, they have been known to just attack...
Although, I think it's only the starving or crazy that attack humans without provocation.

[LillFilly]

Sigh. I would have liked to have had a mountain lion in the mall today; too many screaming children! The herd needed to be culled!!!

[Food Lady]

Sigh. I would have liked to have had a mountain lion in the mall today; too many screaming children! The herd needed to be culled!!!

If they are hungry enough, they will eat small children.

[Marmalady]

Yeah, we have deer near where I work and near home and while they probably wouldn't get close enough to get into the local mall, they are a problem because they run out in front of cars.

There are deer around the place where I live, they are little muntjac (escaped from local wildlife parks, and liked the area). And again, they are a problem because of their lack of road sense - also, they like to get into the allotments and munch on the fruit and vegetables.

For all that though, they are still so enchanting - directly across the lane from my house there is a meadow, and I will never forget opening my bedroom curtains early one morning and seeing one of these little deer wandering in the meadow and drinking from the small stream that runs along the side of it. I stayed motionless for ages just watching it....