Let Freedom Ring: Mystery Deer Runs Away
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 4th, 2008
Perhaps he had picnic plans with friends on the 4th? Guess who is on the lam again?
An Animal Control officer handles a tranquilized deer after it led police on a chase through downtown South Bend, Indiana, on June 26, 2008. The deer has since escaped from an animal rehabilitation center. (WSBT photo)
Unbelievably, the unidentified deer that was found wandering in the streets of South Bend, Indiana, (see video here) which has remained unidentified, has escaped and is back in the wild. Or not unbelievably.
“He’s out in the wild somewhere,” said South Bend Animal Control Manager Gary Libbey. “We had him with a person who rehabilitates deer, but he somehow got out. We’re starting to call him Harry Houdini.”
The deer, which has a distinctive black rump and black spots, apparently is a long way from its native environment. Libbey said the deer was not a native whitetail, but an exotic species from Europe or Asia. He said it might require special permits to own or transport. No one has claimed the deer.
Police used squad cars in an attempt to block the animal as it ran through downtown streets June 26. Animal control officers eventually used a tranquilizer dart to stop the deer, which was uninjured.
Libbey said the animal likely would mingle with other wild deer. “As long as he stays in the country, he’s not our problem,” Libbey said.
“Deer That Led Police On Chase Escapes,”, WSBT, Jul 3, 2008.
“Maybe it’s a Fortean deer!” says “Cryptomundian anon,” who called my attention to this followup.
Meanwhile, the update as of 10 pm Thursday night, July 3, from California is that Moe the chimpanzee remains loose.
Reports that the animal’s tracks had been spotted this week were incorrect, said Michael McCasland, spokesman for Moe’s owners, LaDonna and St. James Davis.
“Those are old tracks that we already know about,” McCasland said.
The search continues, but, thus far, no sightings of Bigfoot have come from around Devore, California, confusing Moe with a Sasquatch.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
That made my day! GO LITTLE DEER!
I don’t know; somehow it seemed that the deer would be safer in captivity. Especially now that it’s a celebrity.
I agree with you, Point Radix.
It’s not like AC wants to kill this deer…
That’s just my opinion.
Ultimately, in the spirit of Robert Frost, there is something there that “does not love a cage.” Good story, Loren.
Must be meant to be free!