Page 17 - Safari Trails December 2017
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there was no love at all between stead. My method was ineffec- not be so different from horses
me and that deer. At that mo- tive. after all, besides being twice as
ment, I hated the thing, and I It seems like the deer was strong and 3 times as evil, be-
would venture a guess that the biting and shaking for several cause the second I turned to run,
feeling was mutual. Despite the minutes, but it was likely only it hit me right in the back of the
gash in my head and the several several seconds. I, being smarter head and knocked me down.
large knots where I had cleverly than a deer (though you may be Now, when a deer paws at
arrested the deer's momentum by questioning that claim by now), you and knocks you down, it
bracing my head against various tricked it. While I kept it busy does not immediately leave. I
large rocks as it dragged me tearing the tendons out of my suspect it does not recognize that
across the ground, I could still right arm, I reached up with my the danger has passed. What
think clearly enough to recognize left hand and pulled that rope they do instead is paw your back
that there was a small chance loose. That was when I got my and jump up and down on you
that I shared some tiny amount of final lesson in deer behavior for while you are laying there crying
responsibility for the situation we the day. like a little girl and covering your
were in. head.
Deer will strike at you with
I didn't want the deer to their front feet. They rear right up I finally managed to crawl
have to suffer a slow death, so I on their back feet and strike right under the truck and the deer went
managed to get it lined back up in about head and shoulder level, away. So now I know why when
between my truck and the feeder and their hooves are surprisingly people go deer hunting they bring
- a little trap I had set before sharp... I learned a long time ago a bow or rifle with a scope......to
hand...kind of like a squeeze that, when an animal -like a horse sort of even the odds!!
chute. I got it to back in there and --strikes at you with their hooves All these events are true so help
I started moving up so I could get and you can't get away easily, me God ... An Educated Farmer.
my rope back. the best thing to do is try to make
a loud noise and make an ag-
Did you know that deer
bite? They do! I never in a million gressive move towards the ani-
years would have thought that a mal. This will usually cause them
deer would bite some- to back down
body, so I was very I hated the thing, a bit so you
surprised when ..... I can es-
reached up there to and I would venture cape.
grab that rope and the T h i s
deer grabbed hold of a guess that the feel‐ was not a
my wrist. Now, when a ing was mutual. horse. This
deer bites you, it is not was a deer,
like being bit by a horse so obvious-
where they just bite you and slide ly, such trickery would not work.
off to then let go. A deer bites you In the course of a millisecond, I
and shakes its head--almost like devised a different strategy. I
a pit bull. They bite HARD and it screamed like a woman and tried
hurts. to turn and run. The reason I had
The proper thing to do when a always been told NOT to try to
deer bites you is probably to turn and run from a horse that
freeze and draw back slowly. I paws at you is that there is a
tried screaming and shaking in- good chance that it will hit you in
the back of the head. Deer may Page 17