SIU warns campus about deer attacks
A doe watches from an area surrounded by caution tape on May 24 in Carbondale, Ill. Wildlife and public safety officials at Southern Illinois University are warning to steer clear of deer there this time of year. Pamela Kay Schmalenberger, AP
May 4, 2007
For the past two years, at just about this time, deer have menaced those who dared walk in and around the woods of Southern Illinois University’s Carbondale campus, bull-rushing students and staff and pummeling many of them with furious hoofs.
What happened last June 5 brought a mix of sadness and relief: Not far from where deer had injured three people, a campus policeman got between a doe and a jogger to prevent another attack and shot the doe when it charged and slightly injured him.
The doe was found and euthanized the next day, and the lack of any attack since begs the question of whether all the attacks were the workings of one rogue doe during fawning season, when mother deer tend to get protective of their young.
With another fawning stretch approaching, school administrators are putting out warnings anew that humans steer clear of deer this time of year.
“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed,” said Rod Sievers, a spokesman for the 20,000-student school. “Hopefully, since nothing’s happened so far it won’t be a problem.”
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During each of the past two fawning seasons, a half dozen people – a mix of students, staff and police – required hospital care after being attacked by deer here. Several other people were threatened but unharmed.
Wildlife officials have attributed the wildlife-human encounters to a combination of protective motherly instinct, squeezed habitat and, in some cases, a little too much human curiosity.
The Problem: For the past two years, a lone deer or perhaps more have charged pedestrians in or near Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, sending at least a half dozen people to the hospital. Officials say the run-ins were during fawning season.
The Response: As they did last year, the school’s public safety and wildlife officials are pressing a public education campaign, imploring everyone to watch out for deer, not approach the animals and run if charged by one of the animals.
The Hope: There have been no attacks since a deer was shot and later euthanized last year after it injured a campus policeman, leading to speculation the deer perhaps was responsible for all the attacks.
Source: The Asscoiated Press
