October 27, 2023 |
Photo – Mule Deer doe – Courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish
Game and Fish euthanized an aggressive deer near the Saratoga Elementary School on Thursday.
The Saratoga police department received a call about a confused and combative male deer spotted near the elementary school yesterday. Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris said Wyoming Game and Fish was called and the animal was put down around 8:00 am.
Chief Morris said elementary school officials took precautions to keep students safe while state wildlife officials with the aggressive deer. The police chief said the animal was killed out of sight of the children.
The same deer was spotted Wednesday morning by Dr. David Scott at his home three miles south of Saratoga. Dr. Scott, who runs the Platte Valley Dental clinic, said the animal approached him without fear.
Dr. Scott said the deer followed him for around 15 minutes before he went inside. Dr. Scott said he didn’t see where the deer went afterwards. Later Wednesday evening, Dr. Scott said the same deer was harassing people at a Halloween event at the LDS Church off West Farm Avenue. Dr. Scott said he restrained the animal until Saratoga police arrived to scare it away.
Dr. Scott said the deer didn’t run very far away.
The deer continued to hassle residents until it was put down by Game and Fish. Chief Morris said the animal will be tested for Chronic Wasting Disease.
An aggressive deer isn’t the only wild animal Saratoga PD has been dealing with. As reported by Bigfoot99, a mountain lion has been spotted around town. Chief Morris said his department continues to receive calls from people who have seen the big cat. The police chief said Game and Fish are investigating ways to handle the mountain lion.
Chief Morris said ideally, he would like to trap the mountain lion and have it relocated outside of town. However, the police chief said that may prove too difficult considering the abundance of other animals around town. Chief Morris also said it is unwise to entice the predator closer to people.
Saratoga PD will continue to work with Wyoming Game and Fish to determine a way to remove the mountain lion from town.
Dr. Scott posted a YouTube video of his interactions with the deer on Wednesday morning. A link to the video will be posted along with this story on the Bigfoot99 website later today.
The video can be found at the following link: https://youtu.be/lgkWhb9S5no?si=ca3Fx2wrt2fEBn3T
