ANIMAL KINGDOM : Pet Deer Fatally Gores Owner
A farmer was fatally gored by a 224-pound white-tailed deer he had befriended and fed regularly since the buck wandered onto his land more than three years ago, authorities said today.
Jack Awbrey, a 63-year-old cattle farmer, was found gored and trampled Monday in a fenced one-acre field on his farm near here. During hunting season, Awbrey kept the deer, named B.J., in that field to be safe from intruders.
Out of hunting season, B.J. roamed Awbrey’s farm freely and grazed with his cattle. Heard County Sheriff Frank Crook speculated that B.J. was acting abnormally because it was the middle of the mating season.
B.J. had been a local attraction for residents, especially children who regularly visited Awbrey’s farm to pet the deer.
The deer was shot to death by Heard County authorities at the scene.
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