HOWARD (NBC 26) — Video sent to NBC 26 shows a deer chasing a dog during a walk with its owner Sunday. A wildlife biologist explains why these rare encounters might happen.
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologist Steven Burns says he received a report of a woman being attacked by a deer in Howard Monday morning
- Burns says to discourage deer from approaching your home, make noise when you see them or spray a hose
- Burns suggests keeping pets leashed on walks and to avoiding approaching animals for safety
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story with additional details for the web.)
In August, I brought you the story of Howard officials discussing ways to control the deer population in the village. I'm Pari Apostolakos and now, I've received some wild video taken by a woman in Howard who says she was with her dog on the Meadowbrook Park trail Sunday when a doe chased her pet. I spoke with a biologist who says this is a rare sight.
See the video of a deer chasing a dog below:
The woman who sent me the video did not want to speak on camera. But, she says a deer getting close to her and her dog Sunday was "very startling."
When I showed the video to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Steven Burns, he said there are multiple reasons it could have happened.
"That's certainly an unusual behavior. Like, typically, a deer that encounters people or pets in the wild is just gonna want to flee. It's gonna want to run away," Burns said. "If they've had repeat encounters with humans that have proven that we're not a threat, we're not a predator, they'll be more likely to stand their ground."
Burns says with fawns being born around this time of year, deer are more likely to protect territory if their babies are nearby.
He says laws banning feeding wild animals, like the one passed in Howard last month can help prevent things like this from happening again.
Now, Hobart is following Howard's lead, with leaders considering a law of their own to ban feeding deer.
"The Village has an abundance of deer which can create many problems including threats to traffic safety, damage to real and personal property, damage to plant life and, through the spread of disease including chronic wasting disease," one Hobart village document reads. "The effect of these problems on persons and property is more pronounced in areas of higher residential density. This ordinance aims to reduce the elements of attraction for deer and the intensity of the deer population, especially in residential areas."
"It's exceedingly rare that a deer would actually physically attack humans, but we know it happens," Burns said. In fact, he got a report of one of those rare instances happening in Howard early Monday morning where a woman told the Department of Natural Resources a deer surprised her while she was walking her dog and chased her.
I reached out to the woman's family for comment. They did not want to speak on the record Monday.
"I don't think in general people should fear deer," Burns said. "We want the wildlife in this area to keep that natural fear of us."
The village board in Hobart plans to vote on banning deer feeding at their meeting Tuesday. I reached out to the Hobart village administrator for comment, he was not available in time for the publication of this article.
