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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is urging people to be cautious around wildlife after a woman was brutally attacked by a deer.
Patty Jean Willis, 64, walked away from the “horrific and very traumatic” incident with multiple puncture wounds from the deer’s antlers. The animal reportedly showed no fear of people initially, and wore a collar around its neck — though it’s unclear who put the collar on — when it appeared in Willis’ yard in Au Gres. But then, it charged at Willis, mlive detailed on Friday (October 15).
“It hit me hard and knocked me back at least 10 feet on my back,” Willis told the publication. “I grabbed its antlers somehow in the process. They were the first thing I could grab. I was in shock…I’ve never screamed that loud in my life. I thought, ‘This is it, I’m not gonna make it.’ My arms were failing me.”
Willis’ son Luke, 45, heard his mother’s screams and ran outside, scaring the deer away.
Department of Natural Resources Lt. Brandon Kieft noted to mlive that state law doesn’t allow Michigan residents to keep wildlife captive, and stressed that “if you’re not trained to rehabilitate animals or to house animals, and you don’t have the facilities or permits, please don’t. When you start to have close human contact with animals, their lack of fear of humans can be a bad thing.”