Adam Walker grabbed life by the horns last week 含羞草研究社� or rather by the antlers 含羞草研究社� when he arrived home to find his dog locked in a struggle with a large deer.
The MLA for Parksville Qualicum pulled into his driveway to see the strange and distressing sight on Sept. 7.
含羞草研究社淚t was like a mass of an animal 含羞草研究社� it was my golden lab and a big buck. The buck had pinned the lab down with his antlers and they were just going at each other,含羞草研究社� Walker said.
Adrenaline kicked in and Walker grabbed the deer含羞草研究社檚 antlers and lifted them up so his dog, Pluto, could scurry to safety. But now he was holding onto the 200-pound animal含羞草研究社檚 antlers and could not break away.
含羞草研究社淚t was about 20 minutes of back and forth with this deer and it was probably the scariest moment of my life,含羞草研究社� Walker said. 含羞草研究社淚t got me in the leg once with its antler and then when I realized I couldn含羞草研究社檛 get away, I was holding on to him and I just started yelling for help.含羞草研究社�
Fortunately his neighbour arrived and she got in Walker含羞草研究社檚 car and nudged the buck with the vehicle until it eventually backed into a ditch, lost its footing and ran off.
Walker suffered a puncture wound in his leg, as well as some scrapes on his knees and shins. He said he is healing nicely after Oceanside Health Centre medical staff sutured up his puncture wound.
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It含羞草研究社檚 hard to say what brought on the deer含羞草研究社檚 aggressive behaviour, according to Lisa Lopez, WildSafeBC program manager, and any time a pet encounters a wild animal, that wild animal can behave in a way that is protective of space or a reaction to a perceived threat.
含羞草研究社淭hese are wild animals and in that sense they含羞草研究社檙e constantly on alert for situations that may be averse to their survival,含羞草研究社� she said.
Fall is mating season, so males are in competition and may exhibit more aggressive behaviour than other times of the year, Lopez said.
This is also the time of year when animals are out looking for food sources to prepare for winter, and the drought conditions have made that work extra hard.
含羞草研究社淭his is an opportunity for people to kind of take notice of it being the fall season and not just deer, but other wildlife are really ramping up to make sure that they含羞草研究社檙e well-fed, well-established for winter season,含羞草研究社� Lopez said. 含羞草研究社淎nd with our drought conditions in B.C. there含羞草研究社檚 potential that there might be less natural food options out there for them.含羞草研究社�
The deer could have been interested in a nearby source of water, or simply been passing through Walker含羞草研究社檚 yard, she added.
Quite a few people have reached out to Walker to see how he is doing after the incident and unsurprisingly there have been a few jokes made around the B.C. Legislature.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e heard no end of puns,含羞草研究社� Walker said. 含羞草研究社淚 quite like the one, 含羞草研究社榯he buck stops here含羞草研究社�, that ones pretty good.含羞草研究社�
He extended his gratitude to the staff at Oceanside Health Centre.
含羞草研究社淒r. Cooper, the nurses and all the support staff there did a great job fixing me up and we含羞草研究社檙e lucky to have them in the community.含羞草研究社�
Sadly, although Walker含羞草研究社檚 dog Pluto escaped the deer encounter, he had cancer and was already scheduled for an appointment with the vet to be euthanized.
