This story appeals to me because almost every day I walk in Richmond Park which as you might know is famous for its deer. I always keep a respectful distance from them. If you approach closer than about 25 feet, they become nervous and walk away from you.
The stags can look at you nervously and you simply have to give them the space they deserve, need and is required because Richmond Park is a nature reserve.
Occasionally, you get people who don’t understand the need to keep a respectful distance and that’s what happened in this case. In Richmond Park I’ve seen people try to feed deer with leaves which is pretty well as bad as trying to stroke one.
In this instance a man tried to stroke a deer in Wollaton Hall Deer Park in Nottingham, UK. It was a stag as you can see in the photograph and the stag attacked him in response.
The man grabbed the stag’s antlers to defend himself and was rammed to the ground but apparently escaped injury. Lesson learned!
I would say that he was fortunate, perhaps very fortunate to escape serious injury. Large deer are very strong animals capable of seriously injuring people.
RELATED: Deer attacked young woman in Richmond Park
