Posted on 10/21/2005 12:28:32 PM PDT by radar101
Services today for victim of goring
Fairbanks Ranch neighbors peeked out windows before venturing into their yards yesterday morning. A sense of fear has pervaded this gated community since a buck gored a man three weeks ago. He died Monday. But the neighbors needn't have worried. The night before, federal trackers had shot and killed the buck believed to have attacked 73-year-old Ron Dudek. To make sure, they also killed one that looked similar.
Steve Martarano, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game, said his agency had no choice but to destroy the bucks.
"We don't relocate wild animals that are considered a problem," Martarano said. "Even after the incident, this buck continued to just hang around. It was getting bolder.
"This is a great example of the problems people can cause when they think they can get too close to wildlife." While neighbors had hoped the problem buck would be relocated to a wild area rather than be killed, they were pleased yesterday afternoon when they learned they could enter their yards without trepidation.
"I will be glad if I don't see that big one anymore," said Ann Winters, who lives across Avenida Cuatro Vientos from where the deer attacked Dudek on Sept. 25.
Dudek, who owned Saturn Electric Inc. in San Diego, had gone into his back yard to pick tomatoes when he passed a 6-foot-tall buck with three-point antlers, according to his family. The buck, which was up against the house, gored him in the face, breaking five teeth and ramming an antler down his throat.
After about two weeks in the hospital, Dudek went home. He died there Monday after a blood clot, caused by the trauma to his face, reached his lung.
A memorial service for Dudek is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today at the Church of the Nativity, 6309 El Apajo, Rancho Santa Fe. Burial will follow at 1 p.m. at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road.
Tom Dudek, one of their four sons, said he was worried that the deer might attack his mother, too. At that point, no one knew the bucks had been killed.
"I'm concerned about her being in the yard," he said. "If they don't get it – I will. Plenty of people have offered me a rifle."
The state contracted with federal trackers who shot one buck about 7 p.m. Wednesday and another about 8:30 p.m. Neighbors say they never heard the shots.
The bucks were believed to be part of a herd of about a dozen deer.
Martarano said the Department of Fish and Game is committed to working with the Fairbanks Ranch Association to keep this kind of problem from developing again.
He said people don't have to be handing food to the deer to entice them into the neighborhoods – they are inadvertently feeding the animals when they don't fence in their tasty bushes and fruit trees.
Craig Benedetto, spokesman for the Fairbanks Ranch Association, said he was relieved that peace has been restored.
Dani Dodge: (760) 476-8242; dani.dodge@uniontrib.com
What a way to go ... sheeez.
Rancho Santa Fe is as exclusive as The Hamptons are in New York, and is about 20 miles north of San Diego, California
Well, that explains everything!.
I've had Deer walk up on me when we're out camping..and I'm not talking 'bout no "3 pointer" (ROFLOL!) either. I stand about 5' 2"..never been hurt by a Deer..never scared a deer, no deer has ever scared me. Those who get hurt by wild game have done something wrong THEMSELVES..Animals are simply Animals.
but very tasty rats if prepared properly!!!!
"deer are just rats with antlers."
Yup. Disease-spreading, vegetation-destroying, car-denting filthy animals. Bambi was one of the greatest propaganda films of all times. (Can you tell I hate deer?)
If you're located on a farm, can't you simply attribute gunshots to shooting rats with a shotgun? How would anyone be able to determine whether it was a deer that you're harvesting in your nursery crops unless they happened to be simultaneously trespassing on your fields?
~ Blue Jays ~
Do you like cats?
Famous last words by a person who does not know wild animals!
Frankly, I do not know what this guy was smoking.
I stand 6 foot tll. I have yet to see a deer more than about 4 feet tall. Six Feet? maybe if he reared up on the hind legs
Ferral cats are yet another problem. They kill songbirds by the millions for no reason at all and spread disease. Many municipalities allow ferral cats to be exterminated whenever encountered.
~ Blue Jays ~
Wrongo. But I won't hold the ignorance against you....it's all over.
LOL. You have a point. No true Texan would allow himself to be laid flat by a deer.
If so, were the deer hit with a Texas heart shot?
"To make sure, they also killed one that looked similar."
Profiling...
--aw, come on now---that one must have been measured in "hunters yard" type feet--the ones that are actually about 8 inches long---
Well, another article I read here isn San Diego yesterday, stated that the guy went out to pick vegetables in his garden and was startled by the deer. He did nothing but be in his backyard.
The poor wife got a fright when he came in from the garden covered in blood.
What the hell are they smoking?
This should read:
"This is a great example of the problems wildlife can cause when they think they can get too close to people."
Somebody needs to get their priorities straight.
This tactic would go a long way in "curing" pedophilia.
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