빨간 코 순록의 살인

이쁘고 착하기만 한 것으로 산타할배의 설매를 끈 사슴 순록이 사람을 공격하고

죽이기까지 한다고. 아무도 이런 사실을 믿지 않으니 야생동물 관리인은 사슴에

가까이 하는 것이 장난이 아니고 특히 짝짓기 발정의계절엔 숫놈 사슴은 아주 거칠단다.

1979년에 낙씨를 나갔던 지미 카터 대통령이 전한살인토끼의 위협을아무도 믿지

않았으나 그건 사실이라고. 인간들에의해 길러지면서 인간을 두려워하던 dna성품이

사라진 탓이라고 그 이유를 전하는군요. 산타 할배요 선물 싣고올 때 특별히 조심을.

손자 귀여워하면 할배 수염뽑는다구 이제 배움의 길에 들어서는 미국...

Deer attacks: Nature, civilization lock horns

By Martin Kasindorf, USA TODAY Fri Dec 2, 7:16 AM ET

Deer are charging at people, causing injury and even death from thrusting antlers and pummeling hooves.

As a nature story, the one that game wardens are telling about attack deer this fall sounds as hard

to believe as the tale of the "killer rabbit" that menaced President Jimmy Carter on a fishing trip in 1979.

But wildlife officials warn that getting close to deer is not a game. In a rash of incidents since September,

aggressive deer have caused one death and several serious injuries.

"People think of deer as Bambi, cute and cuddly, but they can be extremely dangerous in certain circumstances," says Steve Martarano, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game. Some instances of what happens when deer and people get too close:

? Ron Dudek, 73, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., died Oct. 17 of complications from antler wounds inflicted to his face by a male deer that Dudek encountered when he went to pick tomatoes in his backyard garden. It was the nation's second deer-assault death in two years: Donald Sellers, 79, was fatally gored and mauled by his pet buck in Gilbertown, Ala., in 2003.

? Karen Morris, 56, of Clearlake, Calif., was hospitalized for 12 days with head injuries in an attack by a young buck Nov. 17 outside her home. The horns bruised Clifford Morris, 68, when he came to his wife's aid.

? In Covelo, Calif., on Sept. 29, Arnold and Jeannine Bloom returned to their pickup after watering a friend's vegetable garden. A small buck ran up to the truck and knocked the man on his back, California Department of Fish and Game warden Rusty Boccaleoni says. When Jeannine Bloom swung at the animal with a piece of firewood, it turned upon her and ripped a hole in her arm. The next day, Boccaleoni shot and killed the animal.

? Game wardens shot five bucks on the streets of Helena, Mont., after the deer threatened staffers at a day care center and a teenager delivering newspapers.

Kurt VerCauteren, a biologist at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colo., blames most of the trouble on the edginess of male deer during the fall mating season. And as suburban homes encroach on deer habitat, deer that are fed by admiring humans - or that browse on lawns and garden vegetables - lose their natural fear of people, VerCauteren says.

In mating season, bucks sometimes wander into big-city downtowns and get into trouble. Arriving for work at the Minnesota state Capitol on Nov. 3, Gov. Tim Pawlenty heard shattering glass and was nearly bowled over in the parking lot by a buck bounding away from two windows it had broken. The California Department of Fish and Game in October issued a reminder not to feed deer - it is a misdemeanor here - and to "deer-proof" property. Aside from maintaining fences, homeowners can spray plants with deer repellent, VerCauteren says.

The mating season for much of the country ended in November but extends to January in Florida. Problems could crop up again in spring, when does are protecting fawns, says Craig Stowers, coordinator of the California state deer program.

Rambunctious deer don't always observe the biological clock. In August 2004, out of the mating season, a buck pummeled Gene Novikoff, 80, near Cameron, Mont. Novikoff suffered a broken rib. "He looked like he was in a bar fight," says warden Marc Glines of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Glines, who killed the deer, says it was "in need of psychoanalysis."

The family of California deer victims Karen and Clifford Morris is reacting good-naturedly to ribbing from incredulous neighbors. "It puts a whole new spin on (the country song) Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," says Tammy Black, the couple's daughter.