Oh, Deer!
Tuesday I was doing the regular routine of my day off.... being lazy. I decided at about noon to go outside and start the sprinkler because I want our Cannas to be huge this year. There will only be a few because I accidentally planted the bulbs before some late freezes that killed most of it. So I'm making sure what we do have will survive. I walked around the corner and and set up the sprinkler head and started the water. I started walking around the corner again to the backyard and I came to a full stop mid step.
I found myself staring directly at a male deer that stood just as startled and shocked no more than 50 feet away from me. At first my brain was not comprehending what I was seeing. That animal was not supposed to be there. The only thing that separated us was a 3 foot high fence. The deer was slightly shaking its leg and holding it up as if in a defensive stance. I'm used to all kinds of wildlife and I kind of enjoy the skunks, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, mice and the huge blend of birds that circle our habitat. That all seems pretty normal to me in this area. We are basically in the middle of a neighborhood in the middle of a city... so how did a deer get here?
I grabbed the camcorder and ran back outside... of course, the battery was dead. I ran back inside and got an extension cord and started taping what I was seeing so people I told wouldn't think I'm nuts. After a couple minutes of taping and watching the deer slowly back away into another backyard and I went and got the phone to start making calls. I love animals and I would hate to see this one get killed, taunted or in trouble. So I called the trusty city police. They arrived in 2 squad cars no more than 3 minutes after I called... it was the fastest response time I had ever seen by them! They took more time getting here when there was a brawl going on across the street one year. The phenomenon must have sparked their interest. So, I watched the coppers circle around the address that I reported the deer, I startled the one policewoman because I was kinda sitting down low still watching the deer and taking a couple snap shots. The two cops stayed about 3 minutes and left. They never even spoke to me... nuthin... Worthless police. I didn't know what the city policy is on all this but ignoring the reporting person/witness is probably not part of the policy. After a while the deer was out of sight and I want back to my lazy routine.
Later that day CV came home and I showed her the tape so she wouldn't think I was nuts. At about 8 PM she went outside for a "breath of fresh air" and she started calling my name. There it was again, the same deer about 8 hours after I first spotted it. So we both watched the deer and I took more video of it. What really got me is that the deer then hopped over a 6 foot fence without a problem. It was out of sight so I decided to make more calls.
The poor lost deer was concerning me.
I called the dog catcher's number that was listed as "OTHER". They apparently are only useful for dogs only and pointed me in the direction of the county wildlife office. I that number I listened to a 5 minute taped message on how to care for a hurt deer and finally at the END of the message it gave a number to a wildlife office that would take care of all other concerns. So I called that number and left a message.
The next day some type of a wildlife ranger dude called and explained that its perfectly normal for a deer to wander off and get stuck in the city from time to time. He said he used to live in our area and its more common than people think that deer are in our area but he said that he is used to getting calls like mine because people are not used to seeing them walking around neighborhoods. Basically, its on its own. I have not seen the deer since but I have a theory that some construction in the area that is taking out some patches of woods must have disrupted the deer's lazy daily routine and it got just as nosy as I am.
I found myself staring directly at a male deer that stood just as startled and shocked no more than 50 feet away from me. At first my brain was not comprehending what I was seeing. That animal was not supposed to be there. The only thing that separated us was a 3 foot high fence. The deer was slightly shaking its leg and holding it up as if in a defensive stance. I'm used to all kinds of wildlife and I kind of enjoy the skunks, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, mice and the huge blend of birds that circle our habitat. That all seems pretty normal to me in this area. We are basically in the middle of a neighborhood in the middle of a city... so how did a deer get here?
I grabbed the camcorder and ran back outside... of course, the battery was dead. I ran back inside and got an extension cord and started taping what I was seeing so people I told wouldn't think I'm nuts. After a couple minutes of taping and watching the deer slowly back away into another backyard and I went and got the phone to start making calls. I love animals and I would hate to see this one get killed, taunted or in trouble. So I called the trusty city police. They arrived in 2 squad cars no more than 3 minutes after I called... it was the fastest response time I had ever seen by them! They took more time getting here when there was a brawl going on across the street one year. The phenomenon must have sparked their interest. So, I watched the coppers circle around the address that I reported the deer, I startled the one policewoman because I was kinda sitting down low still watching the deer and taking a couple snap shots. The two cops stayed about 3 minutes and left. They never even spoke to me... nuthin... Worthless police. I didn't know what the city policy is on all this but ignoring the reporting person/witness is probably not part of the policy. After a while the deer was out of sight and I want back to my lazy routine.
Later that day CV came home and I showed her the tape so she wouldn't think I was nuts. At about 8 PM she went outside for a "breath of fresh air" and she started calling my name. There it was again, the same deer about 8 hours after I first spotted it. So we both watched the deer and I took more video of it. What really got me is that the deer then hopped over a 6 foot fence without a problem. It was out of sight so I decided to make more calls.
The poor lost deer was concerning me.
I called the dog catcher's number that was listed as "OTHER". They apparently are only useful for dogs only and pointed me in the direction of the county wildlife office. I that number I listened to a 5 minute taped message on how to care for a hurt deer and finally at the END of the message it gave a number to a wildlife office that would take care of all other concerns. So I called that number and left a message.
The next day some type of a wildlife ranger dude called and explained that its perfectly normal for a deer to wander off and get stuck in the city from time to time. He said he used to live in our area and its more common than people think that deer are in our area but he said that he is used to getting calls like mine because people are not used to seeing them walking around neighborhoods. Basically, its on its own. I have not seen the deer since but I have a theory that some construction in the area that is taking out some patches of woods must have disrupted the deer's lazy daily routine and it got just as nosy as I am.
posted by Benners at 6:08 PM
2 Comments:
"At about 8 PM she went outside for a "breath of fresh air" and she started calling my name."
That reads hilarious!! :)
Good deer story!
We get deer in my area quite often right by the highway! I think it's sad that they woulndn't at least come out and look at it or move it.
You're a good sumaritan!
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