Texas Man Killed by Pet Deer. Rutting Season Blamed
Aggressive Male Animals During Rut
It's being reported that Mr. Rushton kept several deer in pens on his property. He wanted to "domesticate" them. This particular buck was raised from a fawn by him. The European red stag, at the time of the incident, weighed approx. 550 pounds. When Rushton went into the pen to feed the buck, the buck penned him against the fence and gored and tromped him. Rushton could not get away from him.
To see a picture of a European red stag go here. It's the beginning of rutting season for deer right now. Bucks become extremely aggressive during rut as their hormones are overriding everything else. Rutting season is when deer breed and it lasts a couple of months.
Male animals can become aggressive when breeding. Their hormones can override the closest of bonds with humans. Deer are not domestic animals. They are wild. But even domestic animals like bulls, rams, bucks (goat) and boars can turn on their owners in a heartbeat when its time to breed. Every year there are reports of farmers getting injured or killed by domestic farm animals. Most of the time the animal has never made an aggressive move against humans. It comes out of the blue and complacency by owners add to the threat.
It is always a huge risk bringing wild animals in to domesticate them. They run free and penning them can only add to the frustration of the wild animal. All animals need room to run. Penning in small pens not only is hard on the animal but also gives humans few options when trying to get away from an aggressive animal.
Mr. Rushton had been warned several times about penning exotic animals. Game Warden Chris Green said that Rushton had been cited for penning White Tail deer and had come into compliance. He stated that there are no regulations on the exotic deer. The Warden also stated that they had warned Rushton about how aggressive the deer could become during rutting season.
sources:
KLTV
Marshall News Messenger
Published by Sherry Tomfeld
Gardening and food preservation are her passion, she has been doing both for 30 years.Working thousands of head of hogs, raising cattle, goats and chickens to being lead cook in a 90 resident nursing home. S... View profile
Pet Ownership: Micro Chipping Domestic AnimalsIn recent years, the micro chipping of dogs and cats has become as common as spay and neutering processes. This is an overview of the AKC's Companion Recovery program.- Heart Disease in Domestic Animals & Use of Low-Sodium DietsFor dogs and cats that live with a heart complication, a low sodium diet is often recommended by a veterinarian. If your dog, or cat, has been diagnosed with a heart condition, here is what you need to know.
The Magic of Wild Animals in Folk MedicineFolk medicine uses domestic animals for both natural and magical purposes but wild animals are almost always used for magical purposes. Read on to discover the magic of wild ani...- Improve Your Family Pet's Behavior with Neurofeedback for AnimalsFor domestic animals with behavior complications, the use of neurofeedback may provide improvement.
- What Can You Do to Help Animals in HaitiThere are several organizations doing their part to help give medical care to animals left displaced after Haiti's mid-January earthquake.
- Summer Fairs:12 Ways to Keep Kids Safe Around Animals
- What is the Difference Between Domestic, Feral and Wild Animals?
- Little-Known Facts About Animals
- Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin. Book Review.
- How to Recognize and Treat Heatstroke in Domestic Animals
- Domestic Animals
- When Your Child is Afraid of Domestic Animals
9 Comments
Post a CommentWhen will people learn to leave animals in the wild where they belong. Sad story
Sad story - it is difficult to understand why humans think they must domesticate wild animals and make them pets. always a tragedy.
Wow, how sad.
See why we shoot 'em and eat 'em and not bother to pet 'em? The name is misleading, as elk are huge by comparison to white tail deer, although they too have killed humans on rare occasions.
Although deer look cute they are vicious!
Deer look so cute to we humans... we can forget that a full grown deer weighs hundreds of pounds and when frightened or rutting can be quite impulsive, aggressive and dangerous. Well written article!
As you said , Wild animals cannot be domesticated without consequences. Sad story.
I looked at the picture and the deer is a beautiful animal. I believe it is too dangerous to pen-up wild animals and people should give it some careful thought before doing so. This is a sad story for the man and the animal. Thanks, Good Write. ℳ.ℋ.
You really did a wonderful and sensitive reporting job on this horrible story.