Believe it or not, there’s often a price you have to pay in order to take a selfie with a deer.
When I say price there, I’m not exactly speaking in the financial sense (though you could always get hit with a fine). I’m instead talking about what I like to call the “Idiot Tax.” In the same way that certain people fit in certain tax brackets, there are only a handful of idiots that often have to face the “Idiot Tax.”
It works like this. Are you being an idiot? Well, you will likely have to pay for that in whatever form your consequence comes in. In this case, if you are trying to take a selfie with what appears to be a sika deer stag, then the tax is getting smacked hard by some antlers.
And just to be clear, the National Park Service advises tourists to stay 25 yards away from animals that are deemed “non-violent,” like bison, elk, and other creatures that tend to be relatively docile. When it comes to bears, wolves, and other apex predators, the NPS warns park goers to keep a football-field-distance between them and the animals.
A stag would be considered the former rather than the latter.
I feel as though I sound like a broken record saying that, because anytime one of these videos pops up, I include a variation of that paragraph above. I’m doing so in hopes that my words will reach one of the people that may not be informed on how to act around wild animals… but then again, I do enjoy covering these idiotic videos.
This girl opted to press her luck by attempting to snap a selfie with a sizable deer standing tall and strong in a wooded area. Taking pictures of wild life from a safe distance? That’s encouraged, and for some, necessary in the memory-making process. Trying to take a front-camera selfie with an animal (thus turning your back to it) that could easily put you in the hospital? That’s basically volunteering to pay the “Idiot Tax.”
And interestingly enough in this video, it appears that the woman could have gotten away scot-free if she just would have been satisfied with the selfie. The stag even appeared to strike a pose. However, like contestants used to do in the classic gameshow, she pressed her luck and literally got a whammy from the male deer. She stuck her hand out (for some reason) and the deer slammed its antlers down into her open palm.
If she was going for a high five, I guess you could say it was successful:
Sheesh… and that could have turned out a lot worse.
A deer’s antler could easily pierce through the skin of a human being. There’s actually a term for that: goring. But the woman instead was just able to laugh the whole thing off… and she’s very fortunate. I hope she got a good picture, because if she’s looking for praise online, most of the comments regarding her stag selfie are the opposite of praise:
“He posed for her and she should have left it at that.”
“Saw that coming.”
“I’m rooting for the deer.”
“I think we need to see someone almost die on here so stupid people will understand wildlife.”
“She got lucky taking the pic… and that he didn’t shred her to bits.”
Something tells me she didn’t learn a lesson…
