June and July are the busiest months for wildlife officials responding to deer attack complaints
Sylvia Weaver walks her dog down Beach Street in Ashland on Wednesday. Weaver and his canine companion were recently attacked by an aggressive deer while walking in the area, and wildlife officials say this was not an isolated incident. [Jamie Lusch / Mail Tribune]
Sylvia Weaver was walking her dog north of Triangle Park in Ashland early July 17 when a deer chased her home.
She saw a doe, a female deer, in front of her and her dog as they walked down the street. A longtime Ashland resident, he knew what that could mean. Every year between June and July, females in southern Oregon can be aggressive, especially toward dogs.
Weaver turned and walked in the opposite direction. Then there was another deer, which she avoided. Then a third.
“Within a half-block walk, we had to change course three times because of the deer,” Weaver said.
Despite her best efforts to avoid the females, one of them chased her and her dog back to her home.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife receives 99 percent of its aggressive deer complaints in the month of July, said Matthew Vargas, assistant wildlife biologist for ODFW’s Central Point office.
Deer have their fawns in May, and by early July, the babies are mobile and able to walk with their mothers, he said.
Canines are four-legged predators, Vargas said, and “to deer, I think, they look like foxes or coyotes, maybe even bobcats. These are not a threat to growing deer, but they are to fawns.
The root of the problem is the abundance of affection many people feel for deer, he said, stressing the importance of never feeding or petting deer or getting close to fawns. Even if a fawn appears abandoned, its mother is probably looking for food nearby and will return.
“The problem occurs this time of year, but it’s created throughout the year,” Vargas said.
Even during the cold winter months, he said, they are wildlife; they must be left wild. Human intervention creates familiarity and teaches deer not to fear people.
“That loss of fear turns into aggression,” he said.
Nel Maloney of Ashland has long struggled with a deer beloved by her neighborhood.
“She has a bad eye. She’s been hit by a car several times. She has a new broken leg; I noticed that the other day. But even with that, she can travel as fast as my dog,” Maloney said .
His dog is often chased by the doe with a good eye. Once, he chased the dog around a car in circles, with Maloney watching and waiting for his dog to escape.
A dog belonging to Marcus Kinion of Gold Hill was killed in a deer attack on July 1, according to a complaint filed with ODFW.
Win Kellerman of Medford has dealt with deer near his semi-rural property for a long time. The deer eat the garden, they eat the roses, but they never dared to jump the 5-foot fence around her backyard until last week, she said.
“He came from the field, jumped the fence and attacked my dog. My dog is about 85 pounds and he went after my dog,” Kellerman said.
Many who experienced aggressive deer say they want ODFW to do something about it.
Vargas said the department advises walking dogs on leashes and perhaps, during the critical June to July period, avoiding areas where aggressive deer have been seen in the past.
To avoid an attack, Vargas said, get big, wave your arms, make noise and make noise. Back up slowly and throw rocks or dirt if you can. Bringing an air horn or pepper spray can also be helpful.
“It’s funny: Oregon doesn’t have a lot of bear attacks, but people are always worried about it. Deer attacks happen all the time,” he said.
Vargas was responding to a recent discussion on social media about the use of birth control to bring down Ashland’s deer population.
“There’s no pill or one-time shot that a deer can take. It would be something they would have to take continuously throughout their lives, just like people. They’re long-lived animals, they’ll be 6 to 10 years,” Vargas said.
Then there are source populations of deer that people don’t see, he said. Deer are constantly moving between forests and urban streets, Vargas said, making it impossible to medicate all of them.
Justin Dion, ODFW assistant wildlife biologist, said people should report aggressive deer or animals acting strangely so the department can better monitor the health and behavior of Oregon’s deer. Complainants should not fear or expect the department to euthanize or remove deer.
A deer would only be euthanized if it posed a serious threat to human health and safety, Dion explained, unless it was a fatally wounded or diseased animal.
“We have a precedent for putting animals out of their misery,” he said.
Removing the deer, Dion said, puts potentially lethal stress on the animal and isn’t effective — the deer have already adapted to urban life.
Two days after his close call with the three females, Weaver said he turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows of his home at 1 a.m.
“Then I heard the rapid sound of hooves, and then horrible screams and screams,” he said, “I guess the cougars have come to town to deal with the deer problems. It was hard to hear.”
To report a deer, call ODFW at 503-947-6301.
Contact Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at mrothborne@rosebudmedia.com or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.
