[Subversive_plot]

Murray (dog) kicked or stomped by a deer in our back yard. They need to sedate him to do the exam.  Fingers crossed . . .

[New shoot]

I hope he was ok. 

[mumofstig]

Fingers crossed for him 

[Subversive_plot]

Murray was banged up pretty bad, but will recover.  He is limping and has some bad bruises, but fortunately, nothing broken.  Most of the damage was on his right side.  He was bleeding from the mouth initially, but that stopped, and the vet thinks it may have been from cuts inside the mouth, rather than something worse.

The working theory is that we have a fawn in our back woods and bamboo thicket again, and the doe was trying to chase any predator (including Murray) out of the back yard.

[Growster...]

I'm glad your boy is out of danger now, Sub P - that's good news!

We have a huge fox visiting all our local gardens, and we have to make sure all our dogs are kept clear, as if he's infected or something, there could be problems! Next door had their large planter dug out and replaced with a dead chicken, and we found a Tesco pate pot dug into one of ours!

[Subversive_plot]

Thanks for your concern and well wishes everyone.

[John]

Happy to read Murray is going to be OK. Assume you're starting a crowdfunder page for the vet's bill? (I believe US veterinarians are as expensive as British ones.)

[Subversive_plot]

Happy to read Murray is going to be OK. Assume you're starting a crowdfunder page for the vet's bill? (I believe US veterinarians are as expensive as British ones.)

Apparently the crowdfunding will come from a crowd of two (the Mrs. and I).  Yes, the bill for our 3.5 hours in the University of Georgia emergency veterinary hospital amounted to more than our monthly mortgage!    The UGA vet hospital is well-known as the most expensive and occasionally the best vet hospital in our area.

What bothered us is that the vet couldn't quite believe that Murray was attacked by a deer!  A very large doe that probably weighed close to 200 pounds to be specific, running around in our fenced back yard in more or less the area that Murray was screaming / running away from!  Witnessed by our whole family.

[John]

What bothered us is that the vet couldn't quite believe that Murray was attacked by a deer!  A very large doe that probably weighed close to 200 pounds to be specific, running around in our fenced back yard in more or less the area that Murray was screaming / running away from!  Witnessed by our whole family.

Sounds horrific - deer are usually such scaredy cats but the maternal instinct is very strong. We had an escaped and panicked dog run up our drive which spooked the sheep in the adjoining field. Within moments the ewes bunched the lambs and surround them, most facing the dog and looking tough. Hard to explain how a sheep can look tough, but they can.

[Aunt Sally]

Glad Murray is going to be fine.

I doubt he will ask to play with the pretty mummy deer again 

[Subversive_plot]

I would guess that we have at minimum 50 adult deer living in our neighborhood of 900 homes, and it could be closer to 100 deer.  They are bold as brass in many cases, they usually move away from people at a walk, but don't run away.  We see them nearly every day if we are walking or driving through the neighborhood, sometimes in small herds.

Right now, Murray is still in no condition to walk around our yard without a two-legged "guard". He is very wary when we carry him down from the deck and into the yard.  Yes, no more play dates with the deer!

[snowdrops]

Poor Murray, no wonder he is wary. Have there always been deer in your vicinity? Or have they recently moved in? I assume with your woodland that it is the housing that have moved into their neighbourhood?

[Subversive_plot]

We have been in this home since 1998 (25 years) and the neighborhood is 30 years older than that.  The deer and other wildlife have always been a part of the neighborhood.  They are attracted by the same features that we like: a mix of suburban open space and retained wooded greenspace, especially along stream buffers.  The buffers must be maintained by law to protect water quality. Although the deer have always been here, their numbers have increased greatly in recent years because suburban areas are ideal habitat for them.

We are considering thinning out some of the thickets that provide cover for the deer, especially does looking for a safe haven for raising fawns.  Also, we are considering increasing the height of fencing to keep deer out of the back yard.