Aggressive Deer Prompt Temporary Closure Of New Canaan Walking Trail

NEW CANAAN, CT — A walking trail is temporarily closed in New Canaan after an aggressive deer attacked several people traveling along a narrow portion of the path last week.

Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm said she was called to the New Canaan Land Trust Trail around 1 p.m. Thursday, where two visibly upset women said they were accosted by a deer.

According to Halm, the women encountered two deer while walking along the trail. When they walked by one of the deer, the animal began to panic and head toward the pair, causing them to fall to the ground.

The women were ultimately able to rip out some deer fencing along the trail and get away from the animal, Halm said.

After speaking with the women, Halm contacted the land trust and the New Canaan Nature Center and suggested signs be put up at either end of the trail cautioning travelers about unusual wildlife behavior in the area.

"One of the members of the land trust decided to take that walk," Halm said, "I believe she had her dog with her, and she did indeed encounter the deer."

According to Halm, a man was also walking his dog on the other end of the narrow path the land trust member was on, trapping the deer between them. The animal ultimately managed to frantically escape without bothering anyone.

Later that night, Halm received an email from a couple who said they were physically attacked by a deer.

The couple told Halm they were walking their dogs in the same narrow area near Weed Street when they encountered a spotted fawn, which alerted their dogs.

"Then the mother deer, we assume, approached them," Halm said. "[The deer] got on its hind legs and began to pummel them to the point where the husband had to fight the deer off. The woman was terribly bruised on her back. She was trying to protect her face."

Eventually, the couple was able to run away with their dogs, however the deer followed them all the way out to the nature center's parking lot, Halm said.

"This was very, very unusual behavior," Halm said. "In my 18 years of animal control, I've been familiar with bucks during the running season getting assertive, but not this sort of physical contact."

After the incident, the land trust decided to tape off both ends of the trail with a warning about the aggressive deer, Halm said.

"It's a doe, we believe with a fawn involved," Halm said, "and the dogs probably triggered a lot of that behavior."

Halm said she believed the deer had made their way out of the trail, and the aggressive behavior was likely due to a combination of factors, mainly the area's tight quarters.

"There's a portion of this trail where it's literally 3 feet wide, and both sides are deer fenced," Halm said. "Residents chose to put up the deer fence for whatever reason, so the trail is very narrow. Wildlife have really two directions; it's fight or flight. I think by the end of the day the doe had just had enough."

While aggressive deer are a rarity, Halm encouraged anyone who walks along trails anywhere to carry a whistle, airhorn or walking stick with them in case they encounter aggressive wildlife.

"We now have predators that live amongst us, and we're in their territory when we go out into the trails and the woods," Halm said. "Everybody should have something in their hands or around their neck to help should they have some kind of encounter."