Deer suffers scrapes, bruises after jumping through window and into Port Dover home
Animals can sometimes mistake reflections in windows for the outdoors, says refuge worker
A Port Dover resident came home Monday to a busted window and an unexpected intruder hiding in the bedroom.
Norfolk County OPP were called to the house around 2:30 p.m. and found a large whitetail doe standing calmly on a sofa bed.
"The deer would not comply with police demands when it was asked to leave," joked Const. Ed Sanchuk, who said the animal had apparently jumped through a side window.
Police called for backup, in this case Chantal Theijn from Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge.
She said the deer appeared quite calm, all things considered, so Theijn decided to try to herd the animal outside rather than sedating it and risking more damage.
After walking through the home closing the blinds to keep it from leaping through any other windows, the animal rescue worker had the OPP officers act as "pretend walls" blocking the exits.
A video shot by Sanchuk shows the deer walking out nonchalantly before hoofing it off-camera.
OHH DEER- homeowner comes home only to find that a deer jumped through a window. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorfolkOPP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NorfolkOPP</a> assisted an animal removal service in removing the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/deer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#deer</a> from the home. <a href="https://twitter.com/ONresources?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ONresources</a> ^es <a href="https://t.co/V50LTsiyfF">pic.twitter.com/V50LTsiyfF</a>
—@OPP_WR"What you don't see in that video is her trying to bite me," he said with a laugh. "So I picked my arm up and she went right by me.
"I am happy to say the deer was removed from the residence and fled on foot several kilometres into a field," he added.
"That's the good news, the bad news is the resident has to fix a side window and [the deer] broke a few items in one of the rooms."
He said in his 20 years as an officer that was the first deer he's encountered inside a home.
It's not unheard of for deer to mistake a reflection in a window for an open field and jump through when spooked, Theijn explained.
Deer escapes largely unscathed
The animal suffered some minor bruises and scrapes, but overall seemed fine.
It did get temporarily tangled in a fence after running from the home, but was able to escape that too.
"It ended up in a wooded area where I'm sure it was standing going 'What on earth just happened to me?'"
Police are trained to respond to emergencies, not act as pest control, so Sanchuk asked people to who come home to find an animal invader to use the non-emergency number 1-888-310-1122, not 911.