And I thought I had other things to worry about when I was outside.
Heres the site the story is on.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20091117/NEWS05/311179948
This town is just across the county line from me. Use to be a lovely place
called the Crossroads to go to for a night out or stay, Each bedroom was done
like a differant country,the one for Afica, had Elephant tusk ( I'm sure they
were made of plastic) at the head of the bed, with all kinds of Aficain
wildllife prints here and there.the pity is with time things change :(
Heres the deer story
'SEEMED LIKE HOURS': Deer's victim covered with bruises, scratches
By SHELLEY LIVERNOIS
JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2009
MOIRA - For a few terrifying minutes, a Moira man became prey for a disgruntled
buck.
An attack by a 10-point buck Friday sent Gerald A. Dabiew, 56, to the emergency
room, covered from head to toe with cuts and bruises. Mr. Dabiew - who doesn't
even hunt - was attacked for several minutes by the buck behind his house on
Best Road.
"It seemed like hours," Mr. Dabiew said.
He was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital, but still was
sore Monday, covered in bruises and scratches but with no broken bones.
His home is isolated and surrounded by woods, and Mr. Dabiew said he has seen
deer in the area, but none has come close to him. So on Friday, as he was
loading wood into a bucket behind his house, he didn't think twice as he spotted
the buck across the road, watching it as he finished his work.
"He stepped on the road, he looked at me, and the next thing I know, he was
coming right at me," he said. "He got me down on the ground, and it was then I
knew that he really wanted to kill me."
For several minutes, Mr. Dabiew fought the buck, which tried to flip him over
several times as he wrapped his legs around the animal's neck and held on to its
antlers.
The buck kept him pinned and pounded him into the ground, holding him there so
he couldn't move. When Mr. Dabiew tried to wrestle himself loose, the buck would
ram him again, he said.
"But I wasn't letting go of him," he said.
The buck injured Mr. Dabiew's hand and body with its antlers, although the
antlers didn't puncture his body, and kicked him on the jaw.
"I've got bruises from head to toe," he said. "He picked me up in the air and
pounded me into the ground."
During the ordeal, Mr. Dabiew, who was home alone, said he hollered for help
until his throat went dry as he continued to battle the animal. Without the
adrenaline pulsing through his veins, he said, he never would have lasted as
long as he did. Even then, by the end of the fight his arms had lost all their
strength.
The buck tried one last time to turn him over, but Mr. Dabiew, who describes
himself as "a good-sized guy," broke loose and managed eventually to kick the
animal, causing it to back off and run away.
"I don't know why he came around. All I was doing was throwing wood," he said.
"I'm not even a hunter."
Mr. Dabiew said the sound of the wood hitting his bucket could have sounded like
deer antlers being hit together, a strategy hunters often use to lure deer.
No matter what the cause, deer attacks are uncommon, but not unheard of.
"This is breeding season for whitetails, and they get pretty aggressive, usually
with other bucks," said wildlife biologist Ed Reed of the state Department of
Environmental Conservation Region 5 office. "They have been known to attack
people. If he sees something moving, he feels like it's somebody encroaching on
his territory."
In fact, people are more likely to be attacked by a deer than a bear, which more
people fear but which attack extremely rarely.
Mr. Reed said people should not be concerned for their safety in light of
Friday's attack against Mr. Dabiew. He said Mr. Dabiew's theory about why the
buck attacked could be correct, as the sound of wood hitting a bucket would have
simulated the "sound of bucks fighting."
Mr. Dabiew said he certainly didn't consider deer to be dangerous animals -
until Friday.
"It changed my way of thinking," he said. "I took an awful pounding; I know
that."
Blessing
Cyn Ann
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