Update: Trigger Warning
Here lies a buck in velvet. Because we can't move it.
Wednesday, August 21
Justin spoke with Officer Stowe of the DNR, who said DNR had determined in an autopsy that the buck was killed by a vehicle strike.
The cause of the two wounds remains a mystery!
Monday, August 19
Yesterday afternoon at about 4:30, on an otherwise extremely lovely breezy Sunday, my eyes beheld an eerie sight: a deer hoof poking up out of the grass on the ELHC property.
A large (who am I kidding, I don’t know how big deer get) stag was lying there. I assumed at first it had been hit by a car, and I crossed the street for a closer look.
I later learned from Justin Towle (DPW) that it had been dead since at least early that same morning, which was when he found it.
Sad to see such a beautiful creature struck down in the glory of its fertile youth.
Odd to see the two holes in its side, near its heart. Its body was otherwise whole and unhurt, it seemed.
It is illegal to discharge firearms in the Village. And it’s nowhere near hunting season.
Justin has a call in to the DNR to make a determination as to whether this was a poaching incident, or if the two wounds were caused by, say, a crow jamming its beak in, an especially robust hood ornament, or a large vampire, rather than some jerk’s gun.
If you know anything about this situation, you can anonymously call the office phone and leave a message after hours, or drop a note in the dropbox. I’ll update this post when I learn more.
In the meantime, DPW have tried to move the carcass with the loader and they can’t. It’s unclear when it’ll be out of there.
The stench will certainly linger in Justin’s memory.
