North Carolina wildlife officials are warning that it’s illegal to keep deer as pets, and unwise to try to tame them.
Officials with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said several incidents have occurred across the state this year involving people and dogs being attacked and injured by deer that were likely raised by humans illegally and regularly fed by local neighbors, including one in eastern North Carolina.
On October 21, a woman in Onslow County was injured after being attacked by a 3 ½ year old buck that had been illegally raised as a fawn by an acquaintance. The woman suffered a puncture wound to her shoulder and neck and many scrapes and bruises from the deer’s antlers and hooves.
Biologist April Boggs Pope said deer that lose their fear of humans can act in abnormal ways, and, “That male deer that seemed fine or friendly during the rest of the year can become dangerously aggressive during the rut.”
