The following article written by Michelle Monroe, Messenger staff Writer appeared in the Weekend Edition of The St. Albans Messenger
Protective doe attacks woman, dogs in Fairfield
Lesson for the public, says expert
By MICHELLE MONROE,
Messenger Staff Writer
FAIRFIELD — A Monday afternoon walk with the dogs turned into a frightening experience for Gail St. Pierre, of Fairfield, when she and her four pets were attacked by a doe after St. Pierre, 56, said two of her dogs heard rustling in the mdergrowth in the woods near he St. Pierre home.
They went to take a look and up popped a fawn.
"You could've put her in a purse she was so small," St. Pierre said.
She tried to call for help on her cell phone, reaching her daughter who misinterpreted St. Pierre’s call and dialed 9-1-1 instead of calling St. Pierre’s husband, Terry.
The doe knocked St. Pierre to the ground with its front hooves, tearing her shirt.
She let go of the leashes to which two of the dogs were attached. The other two were not on a leash. The doe chased the dogs, catching one of St. Pierre's three greyhounds and injuring its legs.
It being Memorial Day, the dog, which is named, Summer, had to be taken to an emergency services veterinarian in Chittenden County for stitches. An artery in one of its legs had been punctured. The dog also lost tissue in its legs during the attack.
Terry St. Pierre heard his wife screaming as he drove to the site in his truck.
All four dogs had returned home after scattering during the attack.
Summer "is still pretty battered. She doesn't move around much," St. Pierre said on Thursday.
The Route 36 resident said she walks the dogs in the woods two to three times a day. Both she and her husband regularly see deer in the woods, she said, but the deer normally run away or ignore them.
Shawn Haskell, the deer biologist for the Vermont Department of Wildlife, said such attacks are "pretty unusual."
"Deer can be a formidable opponent," Haskell said. "They're tremendously strong ... and those hooves are sharp."
White-tailed deer tend to hide their young, separating them shortly after birth. The doe will stay a couple of hundreds yards away from the young to avoid drawing predators to the young, Haskell explained.
The fawns will remain motionless and hidden for three to four weeks, he said, with the mother returning to nurse the fawns three or four times a day.
Although deer are known for fleeing predators, "in some cases it works to their advantage to be aggressive," Haskell said.
The Dept. of Wildlife recommends people stay away from young animals to avoid antagonizing the parents, and Haskell said this story is "another good reason to stay away from young."
Gail St. Pierre, who called the incident a "nightmare," has since moved ahead and even found humor in it all. She said her nine-year-old granddaughter keeps calling her "and singing that song 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.'"