Helpless to help with deer dilemma
As of this morning, a young doe is stumbling around the woods of the South Hills with a plastic jar stuck on her head. It’s a wildlife crisis that would probably not have made the local news if not for the observer who captured the video on a cellphone.
Looking for an update on the local deer, I did a google search and found a whole screen full of photos of deer with heads stuck in plastic jars, many of which look to be those enormous cheeseball containers. The upsetting images caused me to wonder why people don’t just screw the lids back on the empty jugs before throwing them.
Along the way, I researched the intelligence of deer. It turns out they are quite smart, with keen senses of smell and memory. Their senses allow them to avoid humans they perceive as threats, and they remember, for years, the paths they’ve walked to avoid danger or to seek food. Although a deer with her head jammed into a jar may appear to be confused or foolish, she was just following her nose.
I had a trapped deer on my property last week. Looking out the patio doors I noticed a large doe standing on the other side of the fence that separates my backyard from a large wooded valley. The deer looked at me for long moments before beginning what would be a lengthy and obviously frustrating walk along the fence line. There’s less than a foot of flat before the ground drops down a steep and wooded hillside.
Although I’ve seen an occasional deer walking the streets of my neighborhood, it’s more likely this deer had walked through the valley and up the steep hill to the fence.
I opened the door, as if I could coach her back down the hillside, and I would never get close enough to physically redirect her. Confused and frightened, she tiptoed along the fence, looking for a way out. The closest opening was at the end of 20 more backyards.
Years ago, when we lived in Ben Avon, a deer walked through an open gate and into our fenced backyard. There, she wandered around looking for an exit. When she became agitated, I hurried the kids into the house and called the police. They came and redirected her, and she eventually backed up, took a running head start and jumped the fence into the neighbor’s yard.
Perched there atop the cliff, my deer from last week couldn’t do a running jump over the fence. I planned to give this predicament a few more minutes, and then call the police if it came to that. But she finally figured it out; she looked over her shoulder, took one careful step off the ledge and disappeared down into the valley.
We know deer can be a menace – in summer when they pillage our gardens and this time of year when the bucks are rutting. I don’t always appreciate them as a group. But it’s hard to watch a living thing as it suffers. I was relieved when my deer found her way back down into the valley.
I hope by the time you are reading this, the Game Commission will have found that hapless deer and removed the jar from her head. Someone got close on Wednesday, but then a rabbit hopped by and startled the deer and she ran away. Without food or water, the deer will eventually lie down and wait for help.
Here’s hoping the help arrives soon.