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Man Killed by pet deer

Discussion in 'General Open/Public Discussion' started by Doograx, 13 Nov 2006.


  1. --just up the road from where Symen and I live--


    Deer kills Ellenburg man
    By: RYAN HUTCHINS
    Contributing Writer
    November 13, 2006
    ELLENBURG — A local man died Sunday after being attacked by a whitetail deer he kept in captivity on his Bull Run Road property.

    Ronald Donah, 43, a correction officer at Lyon Mountain Correctional Facility for nearly 25 years and an avid hunter, was killed by the buck in rut Sunday, according to State Police investigating the death.

    An ambulance was dispatched to Donah's address at just past 7:30 a.m.; he was taken to CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh, where he died. Police said Sunday evening the deer had gored Donah, but would not release any further information on the circumstances.

    The buck, police said, was one of about a half-dozen deer Donah kept penned up on the property.

    State Department of Environmental Conservation Spokeswoman Maureen Wren said Donah was licensed by DEC to keep "captively-raised" deer.

    Donna Fletcher of Champlain at one time worked with Donah at Lyon Mountain Correctional, where she was a nurse. She's also a wildlife rehabilitator and said Sunday that he'd contacted her several times in the past, asking advice about the care and feeding of his deer.

    Bucks, she said, are overaggressive when in rut and become extremely territorial.

    "You don't mess with a buck this time of year," she said.

    If a doe had been in the area where the buck was, it would have become very upset by Donah's presence, Fletcher said.

    "That would be a dangerous situation."

    If that was the case, she said, then "the buck must have perceived (Donah) to be in his territory with his doe."

    Donah might have felt overly safe around the animal, Fletcher said.

    "If you raise an animal like that, you tend to trust it."

    She was unsure why Donah kept deer but said, however, that some hunters use deer to train beagles. Those trainers will put one of the dogs, equipped with an electronic-shock collar, in a fenced area with deer, giving the beagle a shock if it tries to chase them.

    "I don't know that that is what he used them for — I never saw Donah's area," she said.

    In addition to Donah's DEC license, Fletcher believed that the fenced area where he kept his deer had been inspected by the State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

    State laws regarding captive deer are becoming increasingly strict, Fletcher said.

    "The rules are very stringent now due to CWD, the chronic wasting disease.

    "The state's going to crack down now," she predicted reaction to the fatal accident.

    Clinton County Coroner David Donah, no relation to the deceased, said the death was under investigation and that an autopsy would be performed this morning at CVPH.
     
  2. Gored by your own pet deer, what a way to go. :(
     
  3. Brokentusk

    Brokentusk DragonWolf

    A guy back in my home town had that exact same thing happened.

    OK not exact. He lived. He was on the edge of his pond and was able to get the deers head under water.
     
  4. There is an old story here in Minnesota where a guy hits a deer, throws it in the back seat, and...you guessed it. The deer wakes up and bites him

    ~PM~
     
  5. Ground Chuk

    Ground Chuk BANNED

    You can take the deer out of the wild, but the deer will get into the human.

    One way or another.
     
  6. symen

    symen DragonWolf

    How does the old saying go? Man kills deer, not news -- deer kills man, that's news. :p

    /or something like that, anyway.
     
  7. Om

    Om DragonWolf

    I just saw a beautiful little doe run out onto the road this morning on my way back from dropping off the kids. She ran out into the road, was horrified by the oncoming cars and made an amazing maneuver to get back in to the woods, then a buck with a huge rack of horns followed out into the road and back to the woods.
     

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