peregrinator wrote:I've sometimes thought about asking our resident deer expert, sambar358, about whether these animals could be a potential threat to humans. Especially those of us who don't carry firearms.
I've camped in close proximity to a few. The first experience was genuinely frightening, as I had no idea of what was producing the very loud call, seemingly just beside my tent. On subsequent occasions, even though I now knew it was a Sambar, I've still wondered whether it might cause some intended or unintended damage, to me and/or my tent. I've rationalised this by assuming the deer may be as alarmed at my presence as I am by it's, so I've expected it to keep at a distance. But now I'd like to know more, if possible.
Wild deer tend to be very wary of human presence and with sambar their classic response to encountering something that they are unsure of is their loud alarm bark or "honk". This is usually administered at full volume and at close range and it is intended to startle the potential threat and allow the deer a few seconds to get away. For someone who has not experienced the blast of a close range honk from a sambar it can be quite an experience as the sound is something that sounds more mechanical than something from an animal.....like the air horn of a Mack truck about to run you down. I've been a deer hunter for over 45 years and encountered 1000's of sambar in the bush and never had one exhibit any level of aggression towards me......although I did get flattened by a big sambar hind on one occasion after she bolted down the pad I was standing on and ran right through me....but no harm done apart from a few bruises and she probably got a bigger fright than I did.
The recent incident involving the death of a man and the serious injuring of his wife in NE Vic was caused by an enclosed red/wapiti cross stag......a large animal likely weighing around 300kgs and apparently still with his antlers on which could-well have been long and multi-tined with all points dagger sharp. Of course in the wild a stags antlers are designed for fighting rivals during the rut and asserting superiority over other males that challenge him or seek to steal his harem of females. This time of the year is the rut (mating season) for red and fallow deer and the males in the rut are pumped-full of testosterone, off their feed and have only one thing on their mind....breeding the females. In the wild the males will be constantly on the look-out for rival males willing to challenge them and fight trying to steal their hinds.....in an enclosure the stag still exhibits this sort of behavior making him highly dangerous to any intruders....more-so if he has no hinds in with him as this stag apparently didn't. The victim was an experienced deer hunter and I'm sure he was aware of the dangers of that stag at this time of the year.....likely he just got a bit careless and didn't see the animal as a direct threat when he went in to feed him. But things would have changed in an instant and he would have had no hope of out-running it or fighting it off. It was fortunate that his wife who went to his aid was not killed outright as well.
But.....in the bush I don't think anyone has anything to fear from our wild deer which are naturally very wary of human presence and I'm sure that the vast majority of those who walk in/around the Bogong High Plains have probably never seen a sambar despite there being a strong population of them throughout the ANP. And of any sightings most of these will be of a "south end heading north" as the deer flees rapidly off into the bush. However if you do encounter one that stands its ground, maybe honks at you a few times,raises its tail and fluffs its coat up to look bigger and scarier fear not......it just hasn't worked out what you are yet. A bit of yelling, arm waving or a rock/stick thrown in it's direction should get it dashing off into the bush easy-enough. Cheers
s358