Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/02/25/when-deer-attack.html
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Oh, deer!
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OMG! My wife is from Nara. I’ve been to Todaiji Temple/Deer Park a bunch of times. Even took my parents there.
Those deer are adorable but kinda jerks. They are very used to people and being fed by tourists. So they can be a little aggressive. There are vendor carts who sell crackers for the deer. They are smart enough not to go after the vendor, but wait for customers to step away from the cart before swarming like fuzzy piranha.
Stock photo
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When I was a kid, Disney movies like Bambi had me convinced that deer were cute. Now, seeing them reminds me of Diamonds are Forever - where Bambi and Thumper are trying to kill somebody.
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back in the 70’s we visited a game farm and a llama bit my brother right on the ass. i guess he was pissed that the kid had no more pellets to feed him. it was a trauma from which he still has not completely recovered, and taints his worldview to this day. my brother, i mean. not the llama.
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Visited Nara last year. The deer are complete jerks. When they got overly aggressive I would physically push and shove them back. I got some dirty looks from the people around me, but I didn’t hurt the deer, and after that they would leave me alone.
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If your reaction to seeing a small human child, clearly terrified, being pursued by an animal that is larger than her, is to laugh out loud, then you’re a garbage person. No wonder the comments on that video are turned off.
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When I was very young, my folks took us to the National Zoo in Washington DC. When we were in the bird area. A giant toucan suddenly flew towards where I was standing slamming into the glass right in front of me. Everyone agreed it was after me and it scared me to death at 4 years old. That is probably one of the earliestvividly thing I remember. It was a huge bird and to this day I can’t eat Froot Loops. I still have nightmares about that even 60+ years later. I guarantee that child will have a difficult time getting over that deer attack.
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Did you have to include the STAG FILM at the bottom?
Will no one think of the children? (Aside from Pedo Bear.)
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The place does give you warning for this sort of thing
The deer are little furry douchebags.
Future kid trampling miscreant
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They are even smart enough to spot which customers have the crackers. My partner did, I didn’t; my partner was the centre of attention, I was (literally) shouldered aside.
Agreed. That was kind of disturbing.
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I had a picnic lunch at the park with my parents and in-laws. The deer largely stayed away while we were eating.
But at one point my sister in law was standing, had a banana in her hand, and was talking. A deer came up behind her and snatched the banana, peel and all, and walked away. She grew up around the place and knew better.
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This happened to me as an adult.
It was the boat-billed variety of toucan.
It slammed the glass again and with it’s huge ivory-colored beak.
Right at just me.
I forget where it was, but I’ll not forget the incident.
Toucans are fine though, I’ve no beef.
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A møøse once bit my sister!
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Nara deer are notorious. They will eat your pockets out to find food.
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Their legs are strong enough to jump more than their height. You don’t want them kicking you.
Does this place require signing a waiver?
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They usually don’t do more than tug on your clothes or try to annoy you with light head butting. The deer aren’t usually overly violent to the people. But it is suggested in tour guides you don’t visit the place during rutting season.
There are no waivers, its Japan. Its very difficult to get a lawsuit going there.
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Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti.
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Hungry a-hole deer isn’t quite the same as “deer attack” except in the most literal of senses. As much as people think deer are cute etc… they can slice you up quite nicely with their hooves, and can gore you with antlers. One of my vet school instructors had his forearm lacerated quite badly by a thrashing deer hoof (it was being anesthetized, and was freaking out, and was at risk of hurting itself, so he rushed in to grab it).
When I was in Nara, they were very polite (some will even bow for food). But then I significantly outmass most deer, and probably don’t look like an easy target to them. They’re not stupid by any means. They’ll take every advantage they can. If you’re a little kid, they’ll knock you over and steal food. If you’re a large male, they’ll swarm, but be very polite.
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