Deer Attacks 83-Year-Old Man, Breaks His Hip

CALVERTON, NY — A deer attacked an 83-year-old man in Calverton recently, a horrified onlooker said.

According to Michael Koke of Southold, he was just leaving work and coming out of the driveway of his business on Twomey Road when he noticed his neighbor John Reeve's car out by the garden, where he's often seen tinkering.

"I noticed a deer by the side of the car and I wanted to make sure he didn't try to cross the road," Koke said. "Then I saw that John was lying on the ground. I pulled in and he was waving his hands, saying, 'You have to help me! I can't get this deer off of me!'"

Koke said he shooed the deer, a two-pointer buck with two small horns, but he kept coming back — and even started chasing him. "I live on Deer Run in Southold and I see deer all the time and usually they run away. But this deer would not leave him alone."

Koke said he didn't want to try to move his neighbor, so he just focused on trying to scare the deer away, even trying to frighten him off with his car. "Even that didn't work. He was super aggressive," Koke said. Koke then called his employees, who were just finishing work for the day, and they began throwing rocks and swinging pipes at the deer. "To make a long story short, the deer didn't leave until the ambulance showed up — and then it just walked away."

The Department of Environmental Conservation located the deer and quarantined it, Koke said. "It's not ordinary for deer to act that way," he said, adding that the deer head butted Reeve so hard he broke his hip — Reeve remains hospitalized, Koke said.

"That deer was literally on top of him," Koke said. "I couldn't believe my eyes."

When asked what he'd say about the experience, Koke said, "Be careful around deer, that's for sure."