I get the urge to pet a deer, really I do, but was the viral video worth it?
The leaves are clinging to their last hints of color here in northern Virginia and soon the only shades we’ll see are bark brown and pine green, which means one thing: Whitetail season.
Soon hunters all across the country will be putting on camo and blaze orange and heading out to the woods to park themselves in a tree stand for hours on end until a deer crosses their path. I grew up in Pennsylvania, the state with the most registered hunters, and rifle season was a big deal, like a we got the first day of the season off from school each year type of big deal.
Where I’m at now (the gross outskirts of the DC suburbs) it’s practically an after thought for most people, if they even realize that hunting is a thing not just done in movies, though I think we can use some hunting pressure here because there’s roadkill all over the place. Heck, maybe that’s the call to get my rear-end out there.
Last year, I was going for a run through a wooded park and, when I turned a blind corner, nearly smacked right into a doe and her fawns. Obviously, that was quite a shock but when I told people headed the other way down the path, they just smiled and said something to the extent of “Oh wow, that’s cool!”
And sure, it was kind of cool but had my timing been just a bit worse I could have been on the receiving end of a vicious deer-to-man beatdown, which I imagine doesn’t even click as possible in some people’s minds since they just view them as tall dogs that eat plants.
This video here shows a very likely outcome if you do decide to try and lay hands on a seemingly docile deer.
We don’t really have any context surrounding this clip but a small deer was standing just on the other side of a barbed wire fence and a passerby couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and give it a try. Admittedly, it did look like the deer was going to let it happen for a second but then, as nature is always capable of, it snapped in the blink of an eye.
With literally no time for the person to react, the deer let out a carnal grunt and bit their hand, which I can assume caused some decent damage.
Take a look for yourself:
Yeah, not the ending that person was hoping for…
So, in case you needed it, here’s your warning to not pet a deer this year, especially in the next few months while the rut is on and hormones are flowing freely.But hey, if you do try to pet one, be sure to get it on video and send it in to us. I’ll never turn down good content.
Stay safe out there, folks…
